Tom Paulin's Namanlagh won the PEN Heaney Prize, which recognizes a single volume of poetry by one author, published in the U.K. or Ireland, "of outstanding literary merit that engages with the impact of cultural or political events on human conditions or relationships." The award is presented by English PEN, together with Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann and the estate of Seamus Heaney.
The judging panel said: "Tom Paulin's Namanlagh is beautiful and moving. One of the poems is called 'Spare Room' and spareness is at work throughout--often the poems are a single stanza with relatively short lines. It's as though nothing is to be falsely embellished and yet the language sings 'like the real hard stuff'--even through depression, as history echoes with the present and small resistances speak up."
Paulin commented: "I am hugely grateful to the judges, honored and delighted to be awarded the PEN Heaney Prize, which places social engagement at its core. It also embodies a cross-cultural alliance. The prize is particularly special to me because of its association with Seamus Heaney. His poems of sublime beauty have brought a depth of concern and an unfalteringly humane perspective to the conflict in Northern Ireland, and added immensely to the imaginative wealth of Ireland and the world beyond."