England's Green

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His first full book, which has come together slowly, patiently, over several years... He can do clear-eyed and tender inside a single poem, without any hint of glibness. Fun fact: he used to earn his living writing verse for Hallmark cards.' That’s the same middle where the West Indian Viv Richards can place his “feet exactly where [WG] Grace / played at fifty” (‘Innings’)

The poetry shortlist was made up of Fiona Benson’s Ephemeron, Zaffar Kunial’s England’s Green, Yomi Sode’s Manorism and Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa’s Cane, Corn & Gully, alongside Adukwei Bulley’s Quiet. Constructing a Nervous System won the nonfiction category, while the fiction award was won by Michelle de Kretser for Scary Monsters. The poetry prize was taken by Victoria Adukwei Bulley for her debut collection Quiet. Highlights of the year include the Heaney-esque lyricism of British-Indian poet Zaffar Kunial's accomplished debut Us.' (Tristram Fane Saunders, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year) Davina Baconis studying English and Environmental Science in Cornwall. In 2018, she won the BBC Young Writers’ Award and earlier this year, they had an article published in shado mag. They enjoy exploring ideas about identity, community, and the environment through short stories, poetry, and essays.What’s more English than villagers gathering at the War Memorial on Armistice Day? In our village some of those present still carry the names of those called by Wilfred Owen’s bugles. What’s more English than leather on willow on a summer’s day? Round here, sons and fathers play for the village teams while spectators and the countryside doze gently beyond the boundary. What’s more English than England’s green and pleasant land? The landscape we idealise defines our notion of our country as clearly as the Lionesses. Tender and true, complex and profound, Quiet is a beautiful balancing act of a book – a debut that brings Adukwei Bulley fully formed, starting something,” they added. Zaffar Kunial's 'Us' (Faber & Faber, 2018) was shortlisted for a number of awards including the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Costa Poetry Award.

SZ Shaois a British Asian creative based in London. Their written work revolves around gender, power and connectivity with the more-than-human. SZ has been commended in several Young Poets Network challenges, won third prize in the 2022 Talking Glass challenge, and second prize in the 2021 poetry translation challenge. The presence of two languages in Kunial’s childhood is the source of touching tales. In Us we encountered his childhood shame on hearing his father’s muddled syntax (in ‘The Word’) , and learnt that “[t]here is no dictionary for my father’s language” (from ‘Hill Speak’). Here we see him “wanting to correct or prune my father’s version / of Himalaya” (from ‘Foregrounds’) I’ve already bought and read the poetry books. And of the ten others, I could choose many, but maybe Margo Jefferson – I’ve loved what I’ve read by Margo before and her title draws me in, too ( Constructing a Nervous System). The first three poems of the collections are titled ‘Foxglove’, ‘Forget-Me-Not’, and ‘The Hedge’. This is England. We know where Kunial wants to be These intersections are threefold. Firstly, Kunial’s brown skinned Englishness; secondly the two languages of his parents; and thirdly the facility with words of someone who has had to overcome a speech impediment. Let’s take a look at each.

To help them develop their critical skills and create their review, the ten selected participants attended three online Young Poets Network masterclasses, one of which was led by acclaimed reviewer, editor and poet, Jen Campbell. Noah Jacobis an Arab-British poet and performer. She is an editor and columnist for Zindabad Zine and alum of The Writing Room and the Roundhouse Poetry Collective, having placed second in the Roundhouse Poetry Slam 2021. She has been featured in SLAMbassadors, Kalopsia Lit, Shubbak Festival and Camden Festival.