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The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Real winners from a trio of politicised poets

NOW that the exciting race for this year’s poetry awards has begun with the shock news that the winner of the TS Eliot Prize teaches at Oxford, here are three strong new collections from Culture Matters that are not in danger of winning any prizes.

 

In his latest book From Aberfan t Grenfell (£9) Merthyr poet Mike Jenkins writes about poverty, unemployment and homelessness, combining bleak comedy, righteous indignation and painful wisdom in poems like Merthyr is Vietnam, Got a Season and Carn catch-a Criminals: 

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