We are delighted that Mary Jean Chan has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize 2023 for Best Collection for their forthcoming work Bright Fear, which is out with Faber on August 3rd. Congratulations to them!

The Chair of Judges, Bernardine Evaristo, said about the prize:

‘It was such a pleasure to read so many wonderful poetry collections for this prize from established poets, and to discover new poets at the start of their publishing careers. I think it’s safe to say that poetry in the twenty-first century is flourishing like never before with such a broad range of poets writing from different backgrounds. As a jury we found ourselves drawn to poets who were moving poetry forwards in theme or form or both, who offered us emotional depth, imaginative fertility, re-readability and intellectual complexity, and, most importantly, who were writing fresh perspectives. The ten poets who made the cut, did so in a field of over 230 poets and while it was sometimes heartbreaking to say goodbye to collections we loved, we are incredibly excited to be presenting such an exceptional body of work.’

You can read more about the shortlists here.