Girton College is delighted to announce the winners of the 2026 Jane Martin Poetry Prize, the national poetry competition for young poets established in 2010 in memory of Girton alumna Jane Elizabeth Martin. The prize continues to celebrate outstanding voices in poetry from across the UK.
- First Prize was awarded to Will Moorfoot for his poems 'Muntjac' and 'Great Grandmother Moon'.
- Second Prize was awarded to Yanita Georgieva for her poems 'Long Story Short' and 'Dead Last'.
The 2026 judging panel comprised Sarah Howe and John Clegg.
Sarah Howe is a Hong Kong-born poet and editor. Her debut collection, Loop of Jade (2015), won both the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Her second collection, Foretokens (2025), is a Poetry Book Society Choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She is Poetry Editor at Chatto & Windus.
John Clegg is a poet and bookseller. His most recent poetry collection is Aliquot (2023).
The prize-winning poets were invited to read their work at a celebratory event at Girton College, where the awards were formally presented by the Mistress of Girton College, Dr Elisabeth Kendall.
