1998
T. S. Eliot Prize
Winner
Ted Hughes (1930-1998) was born in Yorkshire. His first book, The Hawk in the Rain, was published in 1957 by Faber & Faber and was followed by many volumes of poetry and prose for adults and children. He received the Whitbread Book of the Year for two consecutive years for his last published collections of poetry, Tales from Ovid and Birthday Letters. The latter won the T. S. Eliot Prize 1998. He was Poet Laureate from 1984, and in 1998 he was appointed to the Order of Merit.
This biography of Ted Hughes is taken from the Faber & Faber website.
Faber & Faber
Announcements
Introduction
The T. S. Eliot Prize is awarded annually to the writer of the best new poetry collection published in the UK and Ireland. Described by Sir Andrew Motion as ‘the prize poets most want to win’ and by The Independent as the ‘world’s top poetry award’, it is the most prestigious poetry prize in the world, and the only major poetry prize judged purely by established poets.
Announcements
Introduction
The T. S. Eliot Prize is awarded annually to the writer of the best new poetry collection published in the UK and Ireland. Described by Sir Andrew Motion as ‘the prize poets most want to win’ and by The Independent as the ‘world’s top poetry award’, it is the most prestigious poetry prize in the world, and the only major poetry prize judged purely by established poets.
Announcements
Shortlisted Works
Shortlisted Poets
Sarah Corbett was born in Chester, raised in rural north Wales, and educated at the Universities of Leeds...
Fred D’Aguiar was born in London in 1960 to Guyanese parents and grew up in Guyana, returning to...
David Harsent has published numerous collections of poetry, including Legion (Faber & Faber, 2005), which won the Forward...
Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh, the adopted child of Scottish/Nigerian descent brought up by white parents in...
Glyn Maxwell was born in England to Welsh parents and now lives in London. He has won several...
Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh in 1951. He now lives in New York. A former radio...
Ruth Padel has published thirteen poetry collections, numerous books of non-fiction including two much-loved books on reading contemporary...
Jo Shapcott was born in London. Poems from her three award-winning collections, Electroplating the Baby (1988), Phrase Book...
Ken Smith was born in Rudston, East Yorkshire, the son of an itinerant farm labourer. He worked in...
Judges
CHAIR
Bernard O’Donoghue was born in Cullen, Co Cork in 1945, later moving to Manchester. He is an Emeritus...
Related News Stories
In 2023 the T. S. Eliot Prize celebrated its 30th anniversary. We marked the occasion by looking back at the collections which have won ‘the Prize poets most want to win’ (Sir Andrew Motion). Ted Hughes’s Birthday Letters (Faber & Faber) proved a publishing sensation and the T. S....
This article on the early years of the T. S. Eliot Prize was written and added to the website in 2025. The winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize 1998 was Ted Hughes for his collection Birthday Letters (Faber & Faber). The prize was awarded posthumously, Ted Hughes having...
