We are thrilled to announce the 13 shortlisted poets for the Poetry Wales Award 2025-26. We received over 1,000 entries, all of which were read and re-read by our judge Jeremy Dixon (check out his posts on his progress here) until he was able to whittle them down to our finalists.
Read on to meet our poets, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to download a PDF pamphlet of the shortlisted poems.
Find out more about the Poetry Wales Award (formerly the Wales Poetry Award) here.
The 2025-26 Shortlist
Presented Alphabetically
Sophia Argyris
Sophia Argyris (she/her) is of British-Greek origin, grew up in Belgium and Scotland. Her work has appeared in MsLexia, Poetry London, Under the Radar, Live Canon Prize anthology. Her pamphlet Heronless, (Palewell Press) published in 2025, and her forthcoming pamphlet Blood Tundra will be published by Broken Sleep in 2026.
Liam Bates
Liam Bates (he/him) is a poet based in Lancashire. He won a Northern Writers’ Award and has been published in Magma, Under the Radar, Berlin Lit and elsewhere. His two pamphlets and his debut collection, Human Townsperson, are available from Broken Sleep Books.
Natasha Borton
Natasha Borton (she/her) is a poet, musician and theatre-maker from Wrexham. She uses performance and music as tools for connection and discussion. Her poetry is rooted in identity and community and everyday folklore. She hosts Voicebox Wxm, supporting emerging and diverse voices and she is part of Representing Wales 24/25.
Anna Bowles
Anna Bowles (she/her) is a freelance editor and pro-Ukrainian activist. Since Russia’s invasion she has divided her time between London and Ukraine. Her poetry is a response to her experiences and has been published in a number of magazines and placed in competitions over the past year.
Heather Chapman
Heather (she/her) is a Durham University student. She was a 2023 Foyle Young Poet, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Tower Poetry competition. Her work is published or forthcoming in The Garlic Press, Bloodletter, Disco Kitchen and Carmen et Error. She likes vampires, sestinas, and Edward II.
Ginny Darke
Ginny Darke (she/her) is a Welsh writer based in Bristol, U.K. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Foyle Young Poets award (2018) and the Creative Futures award (2019, 2020). Her work has been published with Poetry Northern Ireland, Anthropocene, The Remnant Archive, AI Literary Review and Ink, Sweat and Tears.
Dominic Fisher
Dominic Fisher (he/him) lives near the allotment in Bristol he shares with sparrows and foxes. An English language teacher for many years, he was a co-editor of Raceme magazine, is widely published, and sometimes broadcast. His second collection, A Customised Selection of Fireworks, was published by Shoestring Press in 2022.
Garnett ‘Ratte’ Frost
Garnett ‘Ratte’ Frost (he/him): Wirral based dyslexic Transman with an English BA. He is also an ink and wire artist. Co-facilitator of Merseyside LGBTQI+ Creative Writing group, Queer the Page. Published in Writing on the Wall’s TranScripts, Moving Foreword, Write Minds, Surface/Below anthologies and Joy//Us by Arachne press.
Natasha Gauthier
Natasha Gauthier (she/her) is a Canadian poet living in Cardiff. A 2024-25 Representing Wales alumna, she has appeared in Poetry Wales, Scintilla, Ink, Sweat and Tears, and Black Iris, among others. Her work will be featured in the upcoming Afonydd anthology (Arachne). She is nominated for the 2025 Forward Prize.
Richard Lewis
Richard (he/him) is a writer from Swansea. In 2015 he was second prize winner of the Terry Hetherington award, and in 2018 he won the Foley Poetry prize. He has had poems appear in publications including Bare Fiction Magazine, Ink Sweat & Tears, London Grip New Poetry and Shot Glass journal.
Teddy Mills
Teddy Mills (he/him) earned his PhD in Applied Linguistics from Swansea University in 2024. He lives in Swansea and spends most of his spare time on the beach with his dog.
Zain Rishi
Zain Rishi (he/him) is a writer and bookseller based in Edinburgh. He won Third Prize in the 2024 Oxford Poetry Prize and is a Young Poets Network prizewinner. His work has appeared in Fourteen Poems, Horizon, Gutter and Propel. He is currently working on his debut poetry pamphlet.
Elizabeth Wilson Davies
Elizabeth Wilson Davies (she/her) is a poet from Pembrokeshire in west Wales. She has an MA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Post-colonial Literatures and has received a New Writer’s Bursary and mentoring support through the Literature Wales scheme.
Meet the Judge
Jeremy Dixon
Jeremy Dixon (he/him) is a prize-winning poet, editor and workshop leader. He is the author of the pamphlet In Retail (Arachne Press, 2019). His first full collection A Voice Coming From Then (Arachne Press, 2021) won the Wales Book of the Year Poetry Award 2022. He is co-editor of the anthology JOY//US: Poems of Queer Joy (Arachne Press, 2024). His new pamphlet of Polari-inspired poems Bold in the Life has just been published by Broken Sleep Books.