Words cannot express how delighted I am to have won the Fish Poetry Prize 2017.

It’s an unbelievable honour and I’m still coming to terms with it.

Judge Jo Shapcott chose my poem ‘Paris, 13 November 2015’ as the winner of the competition, saying, ‘Love and violence collide in this poem.  The way the writer interleaves terror and passion makes for a remarkable, tender and terrifying work.’

Warmest thanks to Jo and to everyone at Fish.

You can read the list of winners along with those short- and longlisted here.