Grace Nichols becomes 52nd recipient of Queen’s gold medal for poetry

Grace Nichols has become the 52nd recipient of Queen’s gold medal for poetry after British Queen Elizabeth II approved the award for 2021.

Nichols is a Guyanese poet who moved to Britain at the age of 27 and in 1983 her first poetry collection ‘I is a Long Memoried Woman’ won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.

This was announced by the Buckingham Palace late on Friday.

The Queen has approved the choice recommended by the Poetry Medal Committee, chaired by the poet laureate, Simon Armitage.

Through her career Nichols has published nine poetry collections as well as prose and several books for younger readers.

In 2007, she was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Dating back to 1933, the medal is awarded annually for excellence in poetry. Ms Nichols is the 52nd recipient of The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.