Launched in 2024, the PEN Heaney Prize recognises a single volume of poetry, published in the UK or Ireland, of outstanding literary merit that engages with the impact of cultural or political events on human conditions or relationships – celebrating work that resonates with Heaney’s own values and interests, work that remains “true to the impact of external reality and … sensitive to the inner laws of the poet’s being”, to quote from his Nobel Lecture.   

The event will feature speeches and readings from the shortlisted collections, followed by the announcement of the winner and a drinks and canapés reception. Doors open at 6pm, and the ceremony starts at 7pm

The shortlisted poets are Don Mee Choi, Najwan Darwish (translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid), Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, Tom Paulin, Stav Poleg and Karen Solie.

The PEN Heaney Prize is delivered in partnership by English PEN, Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann and the Estate of Seamus Heaney and is generously supported by the Hawthornden Foundation.

BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL. Tickets are available from the English PEN website here.