Join Bidisha for the Sarah Maguire Prize, celebrating international poetry and the art of transition with readings from the 2026 shortlist.

Sarah Maguire Prize 2026: Prize-giving Ceremony

Every two years, the Poetry Translation Centre celebrates the breadth of international poetry and the often unseen work of translators by awarding the Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation. Join us this year for our online prize-giving ceremony hosted by writer and broadcaster Bidisha.

The 2026 shortlist features seven extraordinary books from poets writing in Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Spanish and Turkish, spanning Chile, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Syria, South Korea and Türkiye. Each of these books speaks to our current historical moment, illuminating the urgent issues of our times: ecological breakdown, the legacies of colonialism and lives lived in exile.

Founded in honour of the Poetry Translation Centre’s founder, the Sarah Maguire Prize celebrates creative collaborations between poets and translators that give poems new lives in new languages. This is the fourth iteration of the prize, and the winning poet and translator will share a £3,000 prize fund.

The online ceremony, presented by Bidisha, will feature bilingual readings from all of the shortlisted books and an appreciation of the shortlisted poets and translators led by our judges, the writer André Naffis-Sahely, poet & translator Leo Boix, and poet & scholar Mona Kareem. The evening will culminate in the announcement of the winners of the 2026 Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation.

You can read more about the shortlist on the PTC website.

Tickets are free but attendees are encouraged to make a donation.