On Thursday 9 July 2009, Carol Ann Duffy had her first Audience with Her Majesty The Queen to mark her appointment as Poet Laureate. Duffy chose the occasion to announce a new award for poetry. The annual honorarium the Poet Laureate traditionally receives from HM The Queen will instead be donated to the Poetry Society, and used to fund The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry.

The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry will be awarded annually throughout the ten years of Carol Ann Duffy’s term as Poet Laureate. The £5000 prize will be awarded to a UK poet, working in any form, who has made the most exciting contribution to poetry in that year. Eligible works include, but are not limited to, poetry collections (for adults or children), individual published poems, radio poems, verse translations, verse dramas, libretti, film poems, and public poetry pieces. Nominations for the award will be made by members of the Poetry Society, and the winner decided by a panel of three judges appointed by the Poet Laureate. The inaugural award will cover work which received its first publication or public presentation in the UK in 2009.

“I'm delighted, with the assistance of Buckingham Palace and the Poetry Society, to be founding this new award for poetry. With the permission of Carol Hughes, the award is named in honour of Ted Hughes, Poet Laureate, and one of the greatest twentieth century poets for both children and adults.” �" Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate.

The winner of the first award will be announced in March 2010, alongside the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition.

The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry seeks to recognise excellence in poetry, highlighting outstanding contributions made by poets to our cultural life.