Grace Nichols wins the Royal Society of Literature Pioneer Prize
The British award recognises poetry connecting Guyana and Britain, Caribbean orality and contemporary English.
Grace Nichols has won the 2026 RSL Pioneer Prize, announced by the Royal Society of Literature on 3 November. The £10,000 award celebrates British women writers over sixty who opened new paths in their field; this year it focused on poetry. Born in Guyana and resident in the United Kingdom since 1977, Nichols has developed a poetic language combining Creole and standard English, Caribbean oral traditions, colonial memory and British life. The judges highlighted her influence on generations of diaspora poets and younger readers. Nichols will be celebrated at the British Library on 1 March 2027 and will also identify three emerging women writers for public attention, extending the prize’s idea of literary pioneering beyond a single career.