Newcastle poet, Daniel Hinds’s poetry collection New Famous Phrases won the international UNESCO Bridges of Struga Award from Struga Poetry Evenings. The collection was also recently a finalist for another international award, the Big Other Book Award for Poetry 2025, and received an Honourable Mention in the Big Other Readers’ Choice Award 2025. Daniel was previously a North East Culture Award Newcomer of the Year Finalist for his poetry.
Awards
For the UNESCO Bridges of Struga Award, Daniel was awarded 1,000 euros, a statuette, and his poetry collection has been translated into Macedonian by Gorjan Kostovski. He also participated in events at the Struga Poetry Evenings Festival, including televised readings on Macedonian national television, sharing a stage with the President of Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, an interview and reading in Europe House, and a reading outside the historic St. Mary Peribleptos church in Ohrid. This is only the second time an English poet has won the award, which is bestowed upon the best debut poetry collection internationally. Other writers at the festival, which featured poets from across five continents, included Peter Mackay the Makar (National Poet of Scotland), Ella Frears, Xi Chuan, and Michael Krüger. Previous participants of the festival include Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Margaret Atwood, Carol Ann Duffy, Pablo Neruda, W. H. Auden, and Allen Ginsberg.
Judge’s comments
Nikola Kukunesh, acting director of Struga Poetry Evenings and Mite Stefoski, artistic director of the festival commented:
“History and heritage, noticeably, are the cultural burden of which he is deeply fascinated. Anglo-Saxon history, medieval legends and the way in which the past shapes contemporary identity are particularly emphasized and impressive. Such poems of his create the illusion that the past is not dead, but that it pulsates beneath the surface of modernity; Nature and landscape carry descriptions that do not have a sterile, decorative role. The landscape in his work is alive, often harsh and full of symbolism, it is a living protagonist that shapes human experience; Mythology, as a logical consequence, but reinterpreted in both classical and folklore motifs, giving them a new, often darker and more tangible dimension.”
Daniel Hinds
Twitter/X: @DanielGHinds Bluesky: @danielghinds.bsky.social
This article is based on a media release from Daniel Hinds.
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