T. S. Eliot Prize winners: (top row, from left) Ocean Vuong, Michael Longley, Carol Ann Duffy, Paul Muldoon, Seamus Heaney, Sarah Howe, Don Paterson; (second row) Bhanu Kapil, Ted Hughes, Sean O’Brien, Sharon Olds, Roger Robinson, Alice Oswald, Philip Gross; (third row) Joelle Taylor, Anthony Joseph, John Burnside, Les Murray, Hannah Sullivan, Jen Hadfield; (fourth row) Mark Doty, Ciaran Carson, Derek Walcott, Jacob Polley, Anne Carson, Hugo Williams, George Szirtes, Sinéad Morrissey, David Harsent.
The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry has been celebrating its 30th anniversary, having been inaugurated in 1993 to mark the Poetry Book Society’s 40th birthday and honour its founding poet. You can read former Director Chris Holifield’s short history of the Prize’s growth and development on this website.
Described as ‘the prize poets most want to win’ (Sir Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate) and ‘the world’s top poetry award’ (Independent), it is awarded annually to the author of the best new collection of poetry published in the UK and Ireland.
It is firmly established as the most valuable and prestigious prize in the UK for a new collection of poetry. It is distinctive among poetry prizes in being judged by a panel of established poets. In 2017, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Prize, the T. S. Eliot Estate increased the value of the Prize. The winner now receives £25,000 and the ten shortlisted poets each receive £1,500.
The T. S. Eliot Prize has been funded by the poet’s estate since it was founded in 1993. The charity, the Poetry Book Society, which formerly ran the Prize, closed down in 2016, transferring the Poetry Book Society, its membership and book club to Inpress Ltd.
Media queries relating to the T. S. Eliot Prize should be addressed to Gina Rozner ginarozner@icloud.com
List of previous winners
- 2024Peter Gizzi Fierce Elegy
- 2023Jason Allen-Paisant Self-Portrait as Othello
- 2022Anthony Joseph Sonnets for Albert
- 2021Joelle Taylor C+nto & Othered Poems
- 2020Bhanu Kapil How to Wash a Heart
- 2019Roger Robinson A Portable Paradise
- 2018Hannah Sullivan Three Poems
- 2017Ocean Vuong Night Sky with Exit Wounds
- 2016Jacob Polley Jackself
- 2015 Sarah Howe Loop of Jade
- 2014 David Harsent Fire Songs
- 2013 Sinéad Morrissey Parallax
- 2012 Sharon Olds Stag’s Leap
- 2011 John Burnside Black Cat Bone
- 2010 Derek Walcott White Egrets
- 2009 Philip Gross The Water Table
- 2008 Jen Hadfield Nigh-No-Place
- 2007 Sean O’Brien The Drowned Book
- 2006 Seamus Heaney District and Circle
- 2005 Carol Ann Duffy Rapture
- 2004 George Szirtes Reel
- 2003 Don Paterson Landing Light
- 2002 Alice Oswald Dart
- 2001 Anne Carson The Beauty of the Husband
- 2000 Michael Longley The Weather in Japan
- 1999 Hugo Williams Billy’s Rain
- 1998 Ted Hughes Birthday Letters
- 1997 Don Paterson God’s Gift to Women
- 1996 Les Murray Subhuman Redneck Poems
- 1995 Mark Doty My Alexandria
- 1994 Paul Muldoon The Annals of Chile
- 1993 Ciaran Carson First Language: Poems