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Oenone is the Laurel Prize Poet-in-Residence
Oenone Wirth will be joining the Laurel weekend events and writing a commissioned poem reflecting on the eco-themes of the prize. We can’t wait to see what she writes!
Oenone is a poet based in Sheffield. Her work was first published in 2022, when she was announced as a recipient of the international Foyle Young Poets Award. That same year, she won the Poetry by Heart speaking competition hosted at Shakespeare’s Globe. She recently graduated with a First-Class degree in English Literature from the University of Manchester, where her creative writing portfolio earned her the Alun Lewis Prize for outstanding performance in Poetry.
She says “I am so honoured to have been selected as this year’s Laurel Prize Poet-in-Residence. As the climate crisis intensifies the work of the Laurel Prize is ever more urgent; it acknowledges the importance of creatives turning their attention towards the natural world and examining the complexities of how we interact with our environment. I am really looking forward to the prize-giving weekend, and the opportunity it presents to celebrate the incredible achievements of the nominated writers.”