Warwick alumna wins prestigious poetry prize for debut collection

University of Warwick alumna, Sohini Basak, has won the 2016 Beverly Series for her debut collection of poetry. Sohini studied an MA in Writing in 2013 at Warwick, and has now won the prestigious prize for her collection titled ‘We Live in the Newness of Small Differences’.

Since studying at Warwick, Sohini has gone on to have her poetry and fiction appear in journals such as 3:AM Magazine, Out of Print and Suburban Review. She also won second prize at the inaugural RaedLeaf India Poetry Prize 2013, as well as being shortlisted for the Jane Martin poetry prizes in 2014.

Kelly Davio, a final judge for the 2016 Beverly Series said: “I have no doubt this book’s publication will mark the emergence of a new voice in the poetry world…”

One of her professors at Warwick, Professor David Morely, added: “The key to making poems is surprise in language. I remember with pleasure Sohini Basak’s poetry when I was teaching her poetry at Warwick. Her use of language, line and image always surprised and delighted.

“It is no surprise therefore that she has gone on to achieve great things with her poetry. The winning of this prestigious prize and the publication of her first collection is an inspiration to student-poets at Warwick”.