Professor and poet Andrew McMillan awarded MBE for services to literature
Andrew McMillan, Professor of Contemporary Writing at Manchester Met, has been awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours for services to literature.
A multi-award-winning poet and Professor at the University’s Manchester Writing School, Prof McMillan has been a leading force in contemporary writing, creatively exploring themes of the male body, queerness and the landscape of the north in his lauded poetry collections and debut novel.
Earning multiple prestigious prizes and rave reviews, his work has spanned poetry, prose and performance, with his debut anthology physical (2015) the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book Award and going on to scoop numerous other prizes, including the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award.
Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award among others, Prof McMillan’s second collection, playtime, won the inaugural Polari Prize, while pandemonium, published in 2021, was described by the Guardian as an ‘exceptional vigil of a book’.
Prof McMillan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2020, and his first novel, Pity, was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2024, in addition to being named Sunday Times’ Best Book of 2024, BBC’s Most Anticipated Book of 2024, and Independent’s Best Fiction to Read in 2024.
In the same year he also launched The Tempest Prize, named after the Barnsley street in which he grew up, with the mission to find new unpublished LGBTQ+ writers from the North of England. The Tempest Prize will be awarded for the third time in 2026.
Prof McMillan said: “I’ve always felt very grateful to work alongside such wonderful colleagues and writers here at Manchester Met; our job is always to pay forward what good fortune we’ve received, to our students and to other colleagues as well, and I look forward to continuing to be able to do that here in the years to come.”
The New Year Honours List 2025 recognises selfless service to others from individuals across the UK. Previous recipients of honours for services to literature include Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day), Jacqueline Wilson (The Story of Tracy Beaker) and Alexander McCall Smith (The Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency).
Commenting on the accolade, Professor Malcolm Press CBE DL, said: “Many congratulations to Professor McMillan on this hugely deserved honour. His award-winning writing has not only entertained and inspired, but it has challenged and stirred important debate about masculinity and the human experience.
“Through his rich creative output and tireless contribution to contemporary literature, Professor McMillan embodies Manchester Writing School’s mission to use literature as a force for good, and to change lives.”
Watch Prof Andrew McMillan read his poem Today from his debur collection physical, to celebrate National Poetry Day 2025 here.
