The Aldeburgh First Collection Prize was launched in 1989 to coincide with the first Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and remains the oldest prize of its kind in the UK. The winner receives both a cash prize and an invitation to read at the subsequent Festival in addition to a paid weeks writing time on the Suffolk coast. The prize is awarded - in the opinion of the judges - to the best first collection of poetry published in printed book form in the UK and Republic of Ireland in the preceding year.

In 2010 the Prize was awarded to young Caribbean poet Christian Campbell for Running the Dusk (Peepal Tree Press).

Judge Jo Shapcott praised the collection as a “bravura performance” describing Campbell’s poems as “energetic, fluid and musical and full of loss, hope and imagination. “The book, which was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, was described by fellow judge Neil Rollinson as “the clear stand out among all the volumes I read.”

Campbell responded to news of his win with:
Let’s just say that I’m ‘feeling good’ in the Nina Simone way! I’m honoured to be a part of a moment of great energy and transformation in contemporary poetry in the UK. It’s very, very difficult for any young poet, and for any Caribbean poet, to get this level of recognition.

Previous winners of the prize include Tiffany Atkinson, Colette Bryce, Nick Laird, Esther Morgan, Robin Robertson, Henry Shukman and Susan Wicks.