Michael Laskey awarded King’s gold medal for Poetry 2025
“Astonished” poet honoured with prestigious award established by King George V
Michael Laskey has been awarded the King's Gold Medal for Poetry for the year 2025.
The 81-year-old said he was "astonished" to find out he was receiving the medal, which was established by King George V in 1933 and is awarded for excellence in poetry.
He said: "I was completely astonished and am still finding it hard to believe.
"I never imagined my poems would receive such extraordinary public recognition or that my name could ever appear on the same list as some of the poets whose work I've looked up to and loved for years."
The poet was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, but has lived in Suffolk for the last 48 years with his wife.
The Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, said: "Michael is an incredibly gifted poet and is highly deserving of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry.
"Reading through (Laskey's) Collected Poems, I was struck by how deceptively simple the poems are: apparently effortless, domestic, calm in voice and clear in their descriptions and observations - yet so often, in fact almost always, deeply moving, with last lines that cause an involuntary intake of breath, a wobble of the heart, or a shiver of the spine."
Mr Laskey's first publication, Cloves of Garlic (1988), was a joint winner of the Poetry Business pamphlet competition.
Since then, he has published six full poetry collections, two of which were Poetry Book Society recommendations.
One collection, The Tightrope Wedding (1999), was also shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize.
The poet was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to Contemporary Poetry in 2015.
The King's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded to a recipient from the UK or the Commonwealth.
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