Don Paterson wins the Forward Prize

October 08, 2009 Sixteen years after he debuted on the poetry scene with the acclaimed collection Nil Nil, Don Paterson has triumphed over one of the strongest poetry shortlists in years to take the Forward prize for best collection with Rain, a work which judges said showed the Scottish poet's "total mastery of his art".

Paterson, 45, beat a line-up of acclaimed poets including Peter Porter, Sharon Olds and Glyn Maxwell to win the £10,000 award. The Forward prize for best single poem was won this year by Robin Robertson for ‘At Roane Head’, while Emma Jones’s The Striped World, inspired by her home country of Australia, was named winner of the £5,000 best first collection prize.

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