Imogen Wade | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1998 (age 26–27) [1] |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Exeter University of Plymouth |
| Notable works | 'The Time I Was Mugged in New York City' |
| Notable awards | National Poetry Competition 2023 Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2024 |
| Website | |
| imogenwadepoetry | |
Imogen Wade is an English poet from Harlow. [2] She won the National Poetry Competition 2023 for her poem 'The Time I Was Mugged in New York City', [3] and the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2024 for 'Poem About Love'. [4]
Wade grew up in Harlow, Essex, and went on to study English Literature at the University of Exeter, with a year abroad at Vassar College, New York. [5] She then trained as a person-centred therapist at the University of Plymouth, worked with a number of clients and agencies, [6] and has given insights in news articles. [7] In 2021, she contributed to an article in the Cosmopolitan about the rising statistics around women's suicide. [1] Wade lives with her husband in the South East of England. [8]
Wade began publishing from an early age, winning a commendation for a poem at the Foyle Young Poets of Year Award in 2015, judged by Liz Berry. [9] Ever since, she has won several accolades, having been named a Runner-Up in The Poetry Business's 2023 New Poets Prize for her pamphlet manuscript Fire Safety, selected by the poet Kim Moore, [10] and commended in the 2024 Moth Poetry Prize. [11] [12] She was also named first prize winner in the Ware Poets Open Competition 2023, [13] and her poems have appeared in The Poetry Review, PN Review, The London Magazine, and elsewhere. [14] Occasionally, Wade has also organised free writing workshops. [15]
In 2024, Wade was named the winner of National Poetry Competition 2023 for her poem 'The Time I Was Mugged in New York City', selected by the poets Jane Draycott, Will Harris and Clare Pollard. [16] This win got her considerable attention, with The Spectator blaming the organisation behind the competition, The Poetry Society, for having "betrayed poetry". [17] In a blog post, poet Courtenay Schembri Gray found the poem "woefully unambitious". [18] While The Spectator refuted the idea of Wade's poem being a poem at all, calling it "prose, printed in [a] central [block] on the page," [17] the judges praised the "paradoxical lyricism" of the poem, [3] noting its strength in "skilfully and subtly open[ing] up the psychological complexity of [an] assault". [19] Written in response to "a real life experience", 'The Time I Was Mugged in New York City' was one of 19,000 poems submitted to the competition in 2023. [2] In an interview with the BBC, Wade noted that she was "very surpris[ed]" on receiving the news of the win, pointing out that she might now "by a domino effect" have profited "from the mugging". [20]
In 2024, Wade was also named the winner of the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2024, selected by poets Jane Yeh and Glyn Maxwell, for her poem titled 'Poem About Love'. Yeh praised the work for its "sophisticated voice and compelling lines", and Maxwell called it "a heartfelt revelation of a poem". [4]
In October 2024, she was awarded a DYCP Grant from Arts Council England for 'A Poet's First Novel'. [21] Wade's debut collection Girl, Swooning is to be published by Corsair. [8]