T. S. Eliot Prize News

YOUNG CRITICS’ VIDEO REVIEWS – ‘HIGHLY RECOMMENDED VIEWING!’

The T. S. Eliot Prize and The Poetry Society have now published the first set of video reviews created by participants in the new Young Critics Scheme.

Holly Moberley reviews The Room Between Us by Denise Saul and SZ Shao explores Jemma Borg’s Wilder, while Aliyah Begum, Eric Yip and Noah Jacob offer lively, conversational reviews of The Thirteenth Angel by Philip Gross, Slide by Mark Pajak and Ephemeron by Fiona Benson. The video reviews are now available to watch on the T. S. Eliot Prize and The Poetry Society’s YouTube channels.

‘We are delighted with the outcome of the Young Critics Scheme,’ said Michael Sims, Director of the T. S. Eliot Prize. ‘I would like to thank all the reviewers, who present astonishingly insightful and invigorating readings of their selected title from this year’s shortlist – the video reviews are highly recommended viewing!’

The Young Critics scheme, a new partnership project between the T. S. Eliot Prize and The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network, invited ten writers aged 18-25 to create their own video review of each of the collections shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. The aim was to help them develop their creative and critical skills and to amplify young people’s voices in the conversation around this year’s T. S. Eliot Prize shortlist.

Look out for the second set of video reviews – Mukisa Verrall, Lily McDermott, Davina Bacon, Ruth Awolola and Abondance Matanda on (respectively) Manorism by Yomi Ṣode, bandit country by James Conor Patterson, Quiet by Victoria Adukwei Bulley, England’s Green by Zaffar Kunial and Sonnets for Albert by Anthony Joseph, which will be released in the coming weeks, ahead of the T. S. Eliot Prize Readings on 15 January 2023. Keep an eye out on the T. S. Eliot Prize and The Poetry Society’s YouTube channels and social media for news of their release.

COMING SOON: YOUNG CRITICS’ ELIOT PRIZE SHORTLIST REVIEWS

We’ve just received the first of the Young Critics’ filmed review of this year’s shortlisted titles and we couldn’t be more impressed and enthused!

The Young Critics scheme, run in partnership with The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network, invited ten young participants – Ruth Awolola, Davina Bacon, Aliyah Begum, Noah Jacob, Abondance Matanda, Lily McDermott, Holly Moberley, SZ Shao, Mukisa Verrall and Eric Yip – to create their own video review of each of the collections shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. The scheme offered mentoring and workshop sessions, including one with expert online reviewer Jen Campbell, to help them develop their creative and critical skills – and it’s clear that they have.

Eric Yip said, ‘I’m really glad to have been part of the Young Critics Scheme – it has expanded the way I read and given me the courage to dive deeper into the world of poetry reviewing.’

‘Taking part in the Young Critics Scheme has helped me to try things I’ve never done before – recording and editing audio, as well as filming within a time limit, using the basics I already have at home,’ said Holly Moberley. ‘The world of reviewing feels more accessible to me than ever, like a potential career avenue.’

Look out for the Young Critics’ video reviews which will appear on the T. S. Eliot Prize and The Poetry Society’s websites, social media and YouTube channels in December.

Top row, left to right: Ruth Awolola, Davina Bacon, Aliyah Begum, Noah Jacob, Abondance Matanda. Bottom row, left to right: Lily McDermott, Holly Moberley, SZ Shao, Mukisa Verrall and Eric Yip

T. S. ELIOT PRIZE 2022: RECORD SUBMISSION DELIVERS EXCITING SHORTLIST THAT EXCITES, SURPRISES AND STRIKES TO THE HEART

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Judges Jean Sprackland (Chair), Hannah Lowe and Roger Robinson have chosen the 2022 T. S. Eliot Prize shortlist from a record 201 poetry collections submitted by British and Irish publishers. The eclectic list comprises seasoned poets, including one previous winner, and five debut collections.

Victoria Adukwei Bulley – Quiet* (Faber & Faber)
Fiona Benson – Ephemeron (Cape Poetry)
Jemma Borg– Wilder (Pavilion Poetry/Liverpool University Press)
Philip Gross – The Thirteenth Angel (Bloodaxe Books)
Anthony Joseph – Sonnets for Albert (Bloomsbury Poetry)
Zaffar Kunial– England’s Green (Faber & Faber)
Mark Pajak– Slide* (Cape Poetry)
James Conor Patterson– bandit country* (Picador Poetry)
Denise Saul– The Room Between Us* (Pavilion Poetry/Liverpool University Press)
Yomi Ṣode– Manorism* (Penguin Poetry)
     (*debut collections)

Jean Sprackland said:
‘What a joy it’s been for the three of us to have such deep immersion in new poetry,’ Jean Sprackland said. ‘There were a record-breaking 201 entries this year; a reminder that far from being silenced by crisis poets rise to meet it through language.

‘The ten shortlisted books are unflinching in their explorations of love and grief, brutality and desire. They are alive with insects and angels, psychedelic plants and deep-sea fish; and haunted by the ghosts of Caravaggio and Daniel O’Connell. The English of these books is supple and shapeshifting, inflected with Yoruba, Newry street dialect, and the rhythms of Caribbean speech. These are books that thrilled, surprised, and struck us to the heart.’

The T. S. Eliot Prize 2022 Shortlist Readings will take place on Sunday 15 January 2023 at 7pm in the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall as part of its literature programme, and will be hosted by Ian McMillan. This is the largest annual poetry event in the UK. Tickets for the Readings (which are British Sign Language interpreted) and the simultaneously streamed event are now available online from the Southbank Centre box office or phone 020 3879 9555.

The winner of the 2022 Prize will be announced at the Award Ceremony on Monday 16 January 2023, when the winner and the shortlisted poets will be presented with their cheques.

The T. S. Eliot Prize is run by The T. S. Eliot Foundation. It is the most valuable prize in British poetry – the winning poet will receive a cheque for £25,000 and the shortlisted poets will be presented with cheques for £1,500. It is the only major poetry prize which is judged purely by established poets. The judging panel is looking for the best new poetry collection written in English and published in the UK or Ireland.

Look out for specially commissioned videos of interviews and poems by all ten shortlisted poets, which will be available to view on the T. S. Eliot Prize YouTube channel, along with past films and recordings.

The weekly T. S. Eliot Prize e-newsletter provides essential background on the shortlisted poets, including links to videos, readers’ notes, reviews and selected poems, which are free to download and share – for your weekly update, please subscribe

Last year’s winner was Joelle Taylor for her collection C+nto & Othered Poems (The Westbourne Press); the judges were Glyn Maxwell (Chair), Caroline Bird and Zaffar Kunial.

Image credits (top, l to r): Mark Pajak (photo: Robert Peet); Fiona Benson (photo: Jessica Farmer); Yomi Ṣode (photo: Jolade Olusanya); James Conor Patterson (photo: Aimée Walsh); Victoria Adukwei Bulley (photo: Timothy Pulford-Cutting); (below, l to r): Denise Saul (photo: Karolina Heller); Philip Gross (photo: Stephen Morris); Zaffar Kunial; Jemma Borg (photo: Charlotte Knee); Anthony Joseph (photo: Naomi Woddis)