In its fourth year, the Aryamati Prize seeks poets who write for social change and peace. Past winners have included Pippa Little, Jenny Mitchell and Sundra Lawrence. Since 2021, the prize has published the winner’s work also in pamphlet form, with ‘Warriors’ by Sundra Lawrence spanning a thirty-year history, against the shadow of the Sri Lankan civil war, told from the voices of first and second-generation British Tamils.
In 2022, the prize seeks pamphlets from adult poets and individual poems on the theme from young writers under the age of eighteen. The theme can be interpreted in any way in which the writer sees fit.
This poetry prize remembers Cambridge graduate, Olga Kenyon, (Aryamati), who had a rich career involving teaching, lecturing and writing. She was a well-respected non-fiction author, documenting and researching the history of women's writing and had eight books published. As a keen poet she won the North West Libraries poetry award in 2013 and her poem about Alderley Edge was displayed on the city's trams. The prize represents that which Aryamati held dear: reading widely, writing to her loved ones from across the globe by postcard and seeking critical feedback on her work, constantly aiming to improve her craft.
The winning adult prize includes traditional pamphlet publication contract with Fly on the Wall Press for 2022 publication, Fly on the Wall books worth £100, a chosen poem printed on limited edition postcards and an interview with Manchester Poetry Library.