Three of our poets, all winners in past years of The Poetry Business' Annual Book and Pamphlet Competition, have gone on to gain further recognition in the literary world.

Jane Routh

Jane Routh (Circumnavigation) has been short-listed for the Forward (Best First Collection) Prize 'After reading this exquisite collection, I wanted to down sticks, 'follow my bliss' and rush off to live in a small corner of the Outer Hebrides, as Jane Routh's ultra-sensitive response to rural life is so seductive and persuasive.' - reviewer Amanda Sewell

Jane's new book Teach Yourself Mapmaking, has recently been awarded a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.

Catherine Smith

Catherine Smith's new collection The Butcher's Hands (due to be published November this year) is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Catherine Smith writes narratives of alienation, engaging with dream, nightmare and the surreal, peopled by characters at the edge and sometimes beyond the edge.

Daljit Nagra

And winning pamphlet by Daljit Nagra, Oh My Rub!, has been selected by the Poetry Book Society as their 'Pamphlet Choice'. Daljit's pamphlet, an extraordinarily exuberant, funny, intelligent and compassionate treatment of a world ('the whole of India' in an English town) without sufficient voice at present, is the first ever 'Choice' in this new category of recognition. John Lyons (Voices from a Silk-Cotton Tree, pub. 2002) has just been named as Arts Achiever of the year in the prestigious WINDRUSH 2003 ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS. The awards, which were at London's Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday 21 June, recognise the wealth of talent among the African, Caribbean, Asian & Oriental communities.

Jean Harrison

Also, Jean Harrison (from Settle and a regular at the Poetry Business' Writing Days) has had her poem 'Woman on the Moon' (first published in The North magazine) short-listed for the Forward (Best Single Poem) Prize. Jean says: 'The Writing Days have given me confidence in myself as a writer. Peter and Janet, with their marvellous ability to get to the heart of what we are trying to achieve, prove that writing poetry can be both inspirational and fun.'

Garard Benson

These awards come on top of Gerard Benson, another of their poets, and author of 'To Catch An Elephant' just missing out on the New Children's Poetry Book Award, given by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.

The Poetry Business...

All this acclaim underlines the continuing success of The Poetry Business who are supported with funding by way of a Main Programme Grant from Kirklees Cultural Services. They also receive funding from the Arts Council of England.

As Peter Sansom, co-director of The Poetry Business, says 'This is welcome recognition and a wonderful reward for a great team effort - from the belief and support of our funders, through our hard work, mentoring and encouragement, to the dedication and talent of our poets. It can only add to Huddersfield's growing reputation as a centre of creative excellence.'