Commonwealth Poetry Prize

The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972,[1] for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the National Book League.[2]

In 1985 the prize received sponsorship from British Airways. £11,000 prize money was provided for the prize, which was advertized as "the world's most comprehensive award for poetry".[3]

Poems by 35 winners of the prize, each introduced with a brief biographical note, were collected in a 1987 anthology, Under another Sky.[4]

The prize was discontinued in 1987, and a Commonwealth Writers Prize established in its place.

  1. ^ Alastair Niven, 'The Commonwealth poetry prize', in Richard Maltby and Peter Quartermaine, eds., The Commonwealth: a common culture, pp.53-62.
  2. ^ William Henry Wilde; Joy W. Hooton; B. G. Andrews (1985). "Commonwealth Poetry Prize". The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-19-554233-2.
  3. ^ News & Notes, PN Review 44, July–August 1985. Accessed 1 September 2020.
  4. ^ Alastair Niven, ed., Under another sky: an anthology of Commonwealth Poetry Prize winners. Manchester, England: Carcanet, 1987.