’81 Austerities’, the debut collection of poetry by UEA writer Sam Riviere, has been included on the shortlist of five books in contention for the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection. The prize, previously known as the Forward, is worth £5,000 to the winner and will be announced on 3rd October. The former convenor of the UEA Creative Writing (Poetry) MA, Denise Riley, has meanwhile been shortlisted the £1,000 Forward Prize for the best single poem. Sam (pictured) is currently completing his PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at UEA, where he teaches on the undergraduate Creative Writing programme. He was last year commended for the Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation for his translation of Osip Mandelsam’s ‘Tristia’, and in 2010 was selected for the Faber New Poets scheme, while also being commended for the 2010 National Poetry Competition. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2009. ‘81 Austerities’ will be published by Faber and Faber on 2nd August.