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Grace Nichols receives the Pioneer prize for poetry

Grace Nichols has won the Royal Society of Literature’s 10,000 pounds Pioneer prize, which recognises women writers over 60. The Guyana-born poet’s work connects Caribbean oral traditions with life in Britain. The award precedes a new collection in November and a British Library celebration scheduled for March 2027.

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Overhead view of the British Library entrance hall in London, with its glass book tower and broad staircase, ahead of the announced March 2027 celebration of Grace Nichols's poetry.

A prize for women who opened literary doors

Grace Nichols has received the 2026 Pioneer prize from the Royal Society of Literature, a British literary organisation. Worth 10,000 pounds, the award recognises women over 60 whose writing careers opened paths for others. This year it honours poetry. Nichols is 76 and was born in Guyana before moving to Britain in 1977.[1], [2]

Bernardine Evaristo established the prize during her presidency of the organisation. She committed the 100,000 pounds attached to her Women’s Prize outstanding contribution honour to a ten-year programme. Novelist and playwright Maureen Duffy was the first recipient. Ruth Borthwick chaired the current panel, with Sarah Howe and Judith Palmer joining her.[1]

Guyanese traditions run through the poems

Nichols’s writing draws on Guyanese stories passed down orally, the country’s landscapes and the history of enslavement. I Is a Long-Memoried Woman earned the Commonwealth poetry prize in 1983. The Fat Black Woman’s Poems appeared the following year. Later collections include Sunris and Startling the Flying Fish; she also published the 1986 novel Whole of a Morning Sky.[1]

A new collection precedes the library celebration

Alongside her adult books, Nichols has written for children and coedited collections with poet John Agard. Her poems have remained on British secondary-school examination reading lists for decades. She received the Queen’s poetry gold medal in 2021. The Tracks of My Name is due on November 19, before a celebration of her work at the British Library on March 1, 2027.[1]

References

  1. News sourceThe GuardianGrace Nichols wins RSL Pioneer poetry prize↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceRoyal Society of LiteratureGrace Nichols wins the RSL Pioneer Prize↩

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