
Poems of the Decade brings together more than one hundred poems from the many thousands submitted to the Forward Prizes for Poetry in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The Forwards are among the world's most coveted poetry honours. They are awarded annually for the Best Collection, Best First Collection and Best Single Poem published in Britain and Ireland, the roster of commended poets includes both familiar names and fresh voices. This anthology of anthologies draws on the ten Forward books of poetry published to accompany the prizes between 2001 and 2010. It is a perfect introduction to a wide range of contemporary poetry: works that speak of danger, wonder and fear, of love and all that erodes love, in forms of language precisely reshaped by the need to communicate what it is to be a live now, here.