Momtaza Mehri and Jason Allen-Paisant have both been awarded a Forward Prize for their respective collections Bad Diaspora Poems and Self-Portrait as Othello.

Bernardine Evaristo, the chair of judges, called Bad Diaspora Poems ‘an exceptional debut collection’ that ‘reinvigorates ideas around diaspora, migration and home’, and termed Jason’s book: ‘Playful, intimate and allusive… a refreshing mash-up of languages that regenerate poetry so that it feels freshly minted.’