This article on the T. S. Eliot Prize was first published on the Poetry Book Society website in 2015.
The Poetry Book Society is delighted to announce a distinguished international Shortlist for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2015, with one poet from the US, one from Jamaica, one from Australia, two Scots, four previous winners and two first collections.
Judges Pascale Petit (Chair), Kei Miller and Ahren Warner have unanimously chosen the Shortlist from a record 142 books submitted by publishers:
Mark Doty – Deep Lane (Cape Poetry)
Tracey Herd – Not in this World (Bloodaxe Books)
Selima Hill – Jutland (Bloodaxe Books)
Sarah Howe – Loop of Jade (Chatto & Windus)
Tim Liardet – The World Before Snow (Carcanet Press)
Les Murray – Waiting for the Past (Carcanet Press)
Sean O’Brien – The Beautiful Librarians (Picador Poetry)
Don Paterson – 40 Sonnets (Faber & Faber)
Rebecca Perry – Beauty/Beauty (Bloodaxe Books)
Claudia Rankine – Citizen: An American Lyric (Penguin Poetry)
Chair Pascale Petit said:
This is a fantastic year for poetry, with the highest amount of entries submitted in the history of the prize, and an exceptional number of outstanding collections, including many dazzling debuts. This made our task of choosing the Shortlist tricky – many that didn’t make it are books we love. But we were unanimous about our final list, the books my distinguished fellow judges and I picked all awed and excited us with their ambition, verve and technical mastery.
The T. S. Eliot Prize Readings will take place on Sunday 10 January 2016 at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. The Shortlist Readings are the largest annual poetry event in the UK and will be hosted once again by Ian McMillan.
The winner of the 2015 Prize will be announced at the T. S. Eliot Prize Award Ceremony on Monday 11 January 2016, where the winning poet will be presented with a cheque for £20,000, donated by the T. S. Eliot Estate. This continues the tradition started by Mrs Valerie Eliot, who provided the prize money from the inception of the Prize. The shortlisted poets will each receive £1,500. The T. S. Eliot Estate increased its support last year to become sole supporter of the Prize.
Last year’s winner was David Harsent for his collection Fire Songs (Faber & Faber). The judges were Helen Dunmore (Chair), Sean Borodale and Fiona Sampson.
Visit the Poetry Book Society YouTube page to hear last year’s Shortlist Readings
This article has been republished to provide a fuller picture of the T. S. Eliot Prize history. The Poetry Book Society ran the T. S. Eliot Prize until 2016, when the T. S. Eliot Foundation took over the Prize, the estate having supported it since its inception.
