John Agard wins the CLPE Poetry Award (CLiPPA) for an unprecedented third time for his collection The Poetry World of John Agard, illustrated by Shirley Hottier (Otter-Barry Books).

John Agard won the first ever CLiPPA in 2003 with his wife Grace Nicholls for Under the Moon and Over the Sea and again in 2009 with The Young Inferno, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. With this latest win, he becomes the only poet to win the CLiPPA – the UK’s premier award for published poetry for children – three times, having also been shortlisted in 2025 for Wise Up! Wise Down, co-written with fellow poet Jon-Arno Lawson.

A towering figure in the world of children’s poetry, John Agard is also a recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry (2012) and the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award (2021).

The Poetry World of John Agard features over 80 poems chosen by Agard from eight of his previous collections, including I Din Do Nuttin (1983), Laughter is an Egg (1990) and We Animals Would Like a Word with You (1996). You can find out more about the collaborative process behind the collection and Agard’s life-long fascination with language in an interview for Books for Keeps.

Nicola Davies, Children’s Laureate Wales and Chair of the Judges, said: ‘The first time I saw John Agard perform his work, over thirty years ago, I knew at once he was the most extraordinary artist. His poems gleam with human warmth and sunshine, but like all bright lights they cast important shadows, and illuminate things we have not noticed before. You can carry John’s words in your head and your heart and warm your soul on them forever. His book The Poetry World of John Agard will invite new generations of readers into his wonderful universe and I’m delighted that it is this year’s CLiPPA winner.’

Anjali Patel, Lead Advisory Teacher at CLPE, said, ‘Congratulations to John Agard on this unprecedented third CLiPPA win and for all that he does to inspire young children to read, share and enjoy poetry. At CLPE we know that poetry is fundamental to children’s love of language and reading and are delighted to celebrate The Poetry World of John Agard and all our shortlisted collections at this very special event.’

The award ceremony took place at the Lyttleton Theatre in London attended by hundreds of enthusiastic primary pupils and watched by thousands more across the UK via Livestream. The event featured readings from all this year’s shortlisted poets, live drawing by former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell, and performances by the winners of the CLiPPA Shadowing Scheme, which this year involved a record number of schools and over 120,000 pupils.