The Organisations behind the Awards

The British Library established the Michael Marks Awards in 2009, in collaboration with the Michael Marks Charitable Trust. It is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s greatest research libraries. It has extensive collections of poetry in many languages and from all periods up to the present time. It holds the greatest collection of modern British poetry in the world and actively seeks to add contemporary poetry pamphlets to its collection. It now holds the most extensive collection of modern English poetry pamphlets in the world. https://www.bl.uk/

The Wordsworth Trust is a place where poetry is still being created and celebrated, fostering creativity in poets of all ages through a range of programmes and partnerships. We develop activities that fulfil Wordsworth’s own wish, that his poetry would ‘live, and do good’ for the “Poets, who among these hills, / Will be my second self when I am gone”. As well as welcoming visitors, Wordsworth Grasmere brings poetry into schools, libraries, care homes and other community settings, both in and beyond Cumbria. We are privileged to have been a partner of the Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets since 2012. www.wordsworth.org.uk

Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) is delighted to have joined efforts with the Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets since 2010, organizing the ‘Michael Marks Poet in Residence at the Harvard Center of Hellenic Studies in Greece‘. The CHS Greece utilizes the knowledge and expertise of Harvard’s faculty and research Centers and is a key part of Harvard’s continuing effort to expand its international presence. The Center serves as an important nexus for the network of international Centers operated by Harvard around the world, with the differentiation that, from the very first moment, it has been organized, operated and developed to be accessible and free of charge to the general public. It has two main and equally significant operational priorities: the Harvard community, and the Greek and wider global community. https://greece.chs.harvard.edu

The TLS is delighted to support the Michael Marks Awards, which have become an indispensable feature of the poetic landscape, encouraging acolytes and experts alike to take up the pamphlet form. Every year since 2012, we have selected one of our regular poetry critics (who are often also poets themselves) to sit on the Awards’ judging panel, and have published a round-up of the year’s best poetry pamphlets to coincide with the announcement of the prize. We are pleased to be continuing our engagement with such a vital initiative. The TLS offers comprehensive coverage of the latest and most important publications, in every subject, in several languages, alongside current theatre, opera, exhibitions and film. Its authority is acknowledged world-wide. https://www.the-tls.co.uk/

The National Library of Scotland preserves the recorded memory of the Scottish nation, with collections that span the centuries, from earliest times to the digital age. All of Scotland’s languages are collected as comprehensively as possible, and there are particularly extensive collections of poetry. Its status as one of the UK’s legal deposit libraries has ensured that it is both Scotland’s largest library and one of the major research libraries in Europe. https://www.nls.uk/

The National Library of Wales is the foremost repository for Welsh archives, manuscripts and other unique collections, and is one of the UK’s legal deposit Libraries. Poetry has historically had a central place in Welsh culture, as in the other Celtic nations, and the Library’s collections reflect that, both in early manuscripts and contemporary volumes from Wales and from many other countries throughout the world. https://www.library.wales/