Glasgow poet shortlisted for first Forward Prizes performance award
Michael Pederson is the only Scottish poet in the category
A Glasgow poet has been shortlisted for a new category at the Forward Prizes for Poetry.
Michael Pederson made the list with the titular poem from his latest collection, The Cat Prince for the Best Single Poem – Performed category.
It is the first time a major British literary award has included a performance award, and features a shortlist of four entrants.
Chair for the category, Joelle Taylor, said: “I am honoured to have chaired the judging panel for both that and best single poem published in a journal.
“Between the two categories we have curated shortlists that exemplify all that is distinct, innovative, and alive in British poetry and poetic thought.”
Michael is the only Scottish poet to be included in the shortlist for the category, and alongside the honour, he is also set to take up position as Writer in Residence for Edinburgh University.
He said of his poem, which will be featured in The Cat Prince & Other Poems: “It’s one of my favourite poems in there, certainly my favourite piece to perform live.
“It touches on notions of masculinity, animal metamorphosis, playfulness, it’s a love letter to my mum, and all of the troubles and tribulations I probably put her through as a young, wily boy, and hopefully at its core it’s also a love poem to friendship.”
This is Michael’s first poetry collection in six years, and follows on from his prose debut, Boy Friends, which was published last year.
He mentioned how grateful he was for the support he receives in his quieter moments, as well as the honour of being included in the inaugural class of the performed category.
He said: “To be within the first runners of that, the first collective group of writers to be anointed, and it is a great anointment, as part of this award, is a really significant thing to me.”
He added of performing live: “You feel the pressure of doing that poem justice in front of a live audience where you have to keep your cool, you have to hit the intonations, the humorous notes, the forlorn, lugubrious aspects.
“If it’s a very personal story, I guess you’re physically, thespianically, histrionically, reliving the experience as you tell it to the audience.”
Michael is in the middle of a run of shows, and will be performing at Glasgow’s Oran Mor on 6 July, for which tickets are still available.