Isabelle Baafi

Isabelle Baafi is a poet, editor and critic. Her pamphlet Ripe (ignitionpress) won the Somerset Maugham Award and was a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. Her poetry and prose have been published in the Times Literary Supplement, The Poetry Review, The London Magazine, Oxford Poetry and elsewhere. Her debut collection, Chaotic Good (Faber & Faber), is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and the winner of the Forward Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection 2025. Author photo © Jolade Olusanya

2025
Shortlisted
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Shortlisted Works

Related News Stories

We’re finding it hard to wait until January for the T. S. Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings at the Southbank’s Royal Festival Hall… so we thought we’d relive some of the previous events by asking those took part about their experiences. Jane Clarke was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize...
Isabelle Baafi, shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2025 with her collection Chaotic Good (Faber & Faber), is the featured poet in this week’s Eliot Prize newsletter. The newsletter tells you about the wide range of content we have just published to help you get to know Isabelle and...
We’re delighted to announce the T. S. Eliot Prize 2025 Shortlist, which offers ‘something for everyone’ in collections of ‘great range, suggestiveness and power’. Judges Michael Hofmann (Chair), Patience Agbabi and Niall Campbell chose the Shortlist from 177 poetry collections submitted by 64 British and Irish publishers. The diverse list...