This article on the T. S. Eliot Prize was first published on the Poetry Book Society website in 2007.
The T. S. Eliot Prize 2007 Shortlist has been announced. This year’s shortlisted poets are:
Ian Duhig – The Speed of Dark (Picador Poetry)
Alan Gillis – Hawks and Doves (Gallery Press)
Sophie Hannah – Pessimism for Beginners (Carcanet Press)
Mimi Khalvati – The Meanest Flower (Carcanet Press)
Frances Leviston – Public Dream (Picador Poetry)
Sarah Maguire – The Pomegranates of Kandahar (Chatto & Windus)
Edwin Morgan – A Book of Lives (Carcanet Press)
Sean O’Brien – The Drowned Book (Picador Poetry)
Fiona Sampson – Common Prayer (Carcanet Press)
Matthew Sweeney – Black Moon (Cape Poetry)
Congratulations to all the poets and publishers shortlisted. The winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize 2007 will be announced at the awards ceremony at the Wallace Collection on Monday 14 January 2008.
On Sunday 13 January, the 10 poets will be reading from their collections at a special event at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre. Tickets cost £12 (£8 concession). To buy tickets, please call the UCL Bloomsbury box office or visit their website.
The T. S. Eliot Prize Shadowing Scheme, which allows students to shadow the judging process and to read and comment on excerpts from all the shortlisted collections, is now live.
The T. S. Eliot Prize is now the biggest cash award in UK poetry, increased from £10,000 to £15,000. In a move which will be widely welcomed, each of the 10 shortlisted poets will also receive £1,000. The £15,000 prize money is kindly donated by Eliot’s widow, Mrs Valerie Eliot (pictured with recent prizewinners, below).
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.
