Longley wins Feltrinelli International Poetry Prize

A guest post from Wake Forest University Press

Irish poet Michael Longley has been named the recipient of the 2022 Feltrinelli International Poetry Prize. Among the major European honors for poetry, the Feltrinelli Prize is awarded every five years by the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and includes a €250,000 monetary grant. Past winners include W. H. Auden, Eugenio Montale and John Ashbery.

Wake Forest University Press has published Michael Longley’s poetry in the United States since 1981. His Collected Poems was published in 2006, followed by four additional volumes of poetry. In September 2022, Wake Forest University Press will publish his latest collection, The Slain Birds.

Longley, who will accept the prize at a ceremony at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome on November 11, said: “I write poems in solitude. It comes as a happy surprise when other people respond to them, and when they reach audiences beyond these shores. At this terrible time, it’s also a special honor to have my poetry recognized in a European and international context.”

Read more about Longley and the award on the WFU Press blog here.

Established in 1975 by Professor Dillon Johnston, with the support of Provost Edwin Wilson and the university administration, Wake Forest University Press is the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America.