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Poet Withdraws from Forward Prize Over Plagiarism
First off this issue, the BBC reports that poet CJ Allen has decided to withdraw his name from the prestigious Forward Prize shortlist after admitting to plagiarism in his earlier work. The plagiarism was spotted by fellow poet Matthew Welton, who claims to have noticed the plagiarism back in May of 2012, shortly after seeing Allen give a reading in Nottingham and he realized that several of Allen’s poems were early versions of his own work. Welton said that, at the time, he wanted to write something about it but didn’t feel any urgency. However, Allen’s Forward Prize nomination helped to spur him to speak publicly about his discoveries. Allen, in turn, has admitted to plagiarizing “certain works” but said that he never intended to deceive and that his submission to the Forward Prize was original. Welton, for his part, also believes the Forward Prize submission to be original. Nonetheless, due to “negative publicity” surrounding his actions, Allen felt it best to withdraw. The Forward Prize will be awarded in a ceremony on October first that will include a reading of all the nominated poems. Allen’s poem, however, will not be among those that are read.
