Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre Collection
The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre Collection was set up in collaboration with the Poetry Centre to showcase contemporary poetry.
Much of the collection comprises books that have been shortlisted for 4 annual poetry prizes in the UK and USA. It also includes the poetry pamphlets published by the award-winning ignitionpress, an imprint set up by the Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre.
All books can be borrowed by Brookes staff and students and visitors are welcome to use them for reference.
Poetry prizes covered by the Poetry Centre Collection
The collection is centred on books which have been shortlisted for these 4 annual poetry prizes:
TS Eliot Prize for Poetry (UK) 2012-
Forward Prize for Poetry (UK) 2012-
National Book Award for Poetry (USA) 2012-
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation (USA) 2009-
The collection also covers books shortlisted for these 2 prizes that are no longer being awarded:
Irish Times Poetry Now Award (Ireland) 2012 - 2020
The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry in Translation (UK) 2009 - 2015
ignitionpress pamphlets
In the collection you'll also find all of the poetry pamphlets published by ignitionpress, a prize-winning imprint set up by the Poetry Centre in 2018 with the aim of publishing poetry from emerging international writers. Many of these pamphlets can be bought directly from the ignitionpress website.
The Poetry Centre
The Poetry Centre is based within the School of Education, Humanities and Languages at Oxford Brookes. It actively promotes poetry through its Weekly Poem initiative which showcases the work of independent presses and their poets. It also offers podcasts featuring local poets and hosts an annual programme of events including conferences, research seminars, workshops, exhibitions, readings, and community projects.
In February 2016 the Poetry Centre celebrated its inaugural International Poetry Competition with an event at Oxford Brookes and in 2018 it established the award-winning imprint ignitionpress.
Follow the Poetry Centre on social media to hear about their latest events and activities:
Discover poetry: explore further resources at Brookes Library
Reading poetry - books and journals
Writing poetry: books on creative writing techniques
Listening to poetry: online access to TV and radio programmes
Studying poetry - resources for students
Explore the Poetry Centre Collection
How to find books in the collection
The books can be found in the Headington Library on Level 4 (Zone D) and they can all be borrowed.
They don’t have a standard call number, instead they have a label indicating the year of the relevant poetry prize shortlist. The books are grouped by year on the library shelves.
The ignitionpress pamphlets also have a label indicating the year they were published.
Explore the collection prize by prize, or view an A-Z list of all the poets
TS Eliot Prize (UK)
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the TS Eliot Prize shortlisted titles and winners from 2012-
More about the Prize
The TS Eliot Prize is an annual prize for the best new poetry collection published in the UK or Ireland. It was inaugurated in 1993 to celebrate the Poetry Book Society’s 40th birthday and honour its founding poet.
Forward Prize Best Collection (UK)
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the Forward Prize Best Collection shortlisted titles and winners from 2012-
More about the Prize
The Forward Prizes for Poetry were first awarded in 1992 and honour poems and poetry collections from the UK and Ireland.
National Book Award for Poetry (US)
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the National Book Award for Poetry finalists and winners from 2012-
More about the Prize
The mission of the National Book Foundation is to "celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture".
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation (USA)
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the winners of the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation from 2009-
More about the Prize
Annual prize awarded by PEN America for a book-length translation of poetry from any language into English.
Note that the prize was not awarded in 2018.
ignitionpress pamphlets
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the full series of poetry pamphlets published by ignitionpress from 2018-
To find out more about the poets published by this imprint or buy the pamphlets, check the ignitionpress website.
Irish Times Poetry Now Prize
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the shortlisted titles for the Irish Times Poetry Now Prize from 2012 - 2020
This Prize is no longer being awarded.
The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry in Translation (UK)
The Poetry Centre Collection holds the winners of the Popescu Prize for European Poetry from 2009 to 2015
This was a Biennial prize awarded by The Poetry Society for a volume of poetry translated from a European language into English.