Malika Booker's Libation earned her best poem at the Forward Prizes for Poetry for a second time.
A writer has become the first woman to win a prestigious prize twice after scooping the award with a poem inspired by grief and Caribbean rituals.She said it was written in the Covid-19 lockdowns "when funeral rituals weren't possible", which made her think about what such ceremonies meant.
The Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer added that being "recognised" by her peers meant "so much". The university said the awards were the most "widely coveted" for new poetry published in the UK and Ireland and honoured "excellence in contemporary poetry".They also said it was about the act of "libation - a drink poured in honour of the dead - that young people re-enact, despite not fully understanding its meaning".
"I wouldn't be where I am today without such a strong community of poets who've invested in me, and it was inspiring to see so many of the poets I've personally mentored at the ceremony," she added.He said it was a "slow pour of linguistic libation that funnels the reader down into the depths of ritual, grief, culture and society".
Booker is one of a number of Forward Prize winners who taught at Manchester Writing School, joining Professor Carol Ann Duffy, Professor Michael Symmons Roberts and Kim Moore.Israel Gaza war: History of the conflict explained
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