The Forward Book of Poetry 2026

by Various

The judges of the 2025 Forward Prizes for Poetry read hundreds of recent books and individual poems before arriving at this anthology. Celebrating the boldness and variety of today’s poets, this collection opens windows into society, culture, and individual lives.

The Forward Prizes are the most influential awards for new poetry published in the UK and Ireland. This selection combines fresh voices with familiar names, making the book essential reading for seasoned poetry enthusiasts and new readers alike.

‘Central to the literary landscape of modern Britain.’ Andrew Marr

Genres: Poetry

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2025

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[LX]

Thank you so much for the finished copy to review!

Great collection that hold different themes, styles, poets, structures.

Themes such as migration & language, personal struggles including loss which hit hard. And then there are some about belonging and your identity and so much more.

Poetry is always something that can hold so many different feelings or meanings to everyone.

Really liked some of them & can't wait to see what else everyone will do & for the next release. It's a great collection to see new voices of poetry.

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating a poetry collection is always tricky. I enjoyed most the poems in the Forward, though some simply weren’t for me. I’m eagerly looking forward to exploring and reading more by these incredible poets.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more