It's all about poems in the Vulture's nest today. The verse-savvy among you will no doubt be aware that tomorrow is National Poetry Day, and that the winners of this year's Forward Prizes for Poetry, the UK's richest poetry prizes, will be announced tonight. In recognition of this happy conjunction, today's G2 has chosen to lead with a lengthy and in-depth piece on Britain's foremost contemporary poets by the professor of English at University College London, John Mullan - a rare event indeed in recent newspaper history, and one which eloquently attests to modern poetry's rude state of health.
And Mullan and the G2 editorial team aren't the only ones who believe poetry is having its moment in the sun. The judges of this year's Forward prizes claim that we are currently enjoying a poetic "golden age"; certainly the names of contemporary poets - Don Paterson, Paul Muldoon, Carol Ann Duffy - are known, and their works read, outside of university lecture halls. And does the five-strong shortlistfor the Forward's 'best new collection' prize bear this confidence out? Personally, I'd say yes - how often can a shortlist boast new collections from poets of the calibre of Alice Oswald, John Burnside and David Harsent? - but what do you think?
