St Anne’s DPhil candidate, Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, Highly Commended by the Forward Prizes for his poetry collection, “Writing The Camp”

We are proud to share the news that St Anne’s DPhil candidate in English Literature, Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, has been Highly Commended by The Forward Prizes for his poetry collection, “Writing The Camp,” which was also the Poetry Book Society’s Spring 2021 recommendation.

The Forward Prizes for Poetry are the most widely coveted awards for new poetry published in the UK and Ireland. The annual ceremony brings poetry’s biggest names to perform alongside rising talent before diverse and enthusiastic audiences. Notable alumni include Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes and Claudia Rankine, while Simon Armitage, Jackie Kay, Carol Ann Duffy and Daljit Nagra are among those boosted by early career Forward recognition. The Prizes, run by the Forward Arts Foundation since 1992, are sponsored by Bookmark Content. There are three categories: the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection and the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. Poems from the shortlisted and highly commended books are published in the annual Forward Book of Poetry creating an invaluable overview for poetry lovers and a perfect introduction for new poetry readers.

Yousif M Qasmiyeh’s Writing The Camp is, to quote publisher Broken Sleep Books, “an exceptional, essential collection drawn from the poet’s experience of the Baddawi refugee camp in Lebanon. The poetry moves beyond the observational into a philosophical meditation on the existential nature of place. Qasmiyeh asks “Where is time?”, crossing footprints of Derrida, “To experience is to advance by navigating, to walk by traversing”. Writing The Camp is a brave and beautiful work, one which will surely be of historical importance.”

Read more about the book here.