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Forward Prizes for Poetry ふぉわーどししょう

Edition 33 (2024)

PoetryPoetry collectionFirst collectionSingle poem (written)Single poem (performed)

Winners

4 people
Victoria Chang ゔぃくとりあ・ちゃん Excellence Award

Inspired by Agnes Martin's paintings and writings, this collection moves between loss, depression, art, and a changing sense of self. Its quiet abstraction still leaves a strong physical and emotional trace.

It moves between painting and memory to rethink the boundary between the self and the world.

112 pages
contemporary artlossself-explorationdepressionembodiment
Marjorie Lotfi まーじょりー・ろとふぃ Excellence Award

Tracing movement from Iran through youth in America to a present life in Scotland, this debut collection follows the feeling of migration and belonging. It asks what home means, and what we carry with us as we leave one place for another.

It traces a history of movement while asking how a home is lost, carried, and made again.

80 pages
migrationhomefamily historydiasporaidentity
Cindy Juyoung Ok しんでぃ・じゅよん・おく Excellence Award

This single poem sets the memory of domestic violence against childhood images and the instinct to soothe the self. It faces fear directly while drawing the shape of harm with patient, precise observation.

It layers the memory of violence with visual fragments from childhood.

domestic violencememoryself-protectionchildhoodvisibility
Leyla Josephine れいら・じょせふぃん Winner
Dear John Berger

This poem captures loneliness, heartbreak, and the urgent desire to be seen through a performance-like voice. Its directness lets longing for intimacy and a shifting self-image come through clearly.

It faces head-on the wish to be seen and the pain of not being seen.

lonelinessheartbreakbeing seenperformanceintimacy