2012
T. S. Eliot Prize
Winner
Sharon Olds was born in San Francisco and educated at Stanford University and Columbia University. She is the author of thirteen books of poetry. Balladz (Cape Poetry, 2023), was a finalist for the National Book Award and was longlisted for the 2023 Griffin Poetry Prize. Her collection, Stag’s Leap (Cape Poetry), won both the T. S. Eliot Prize 2012 and the Pulitzer Prize. Olds holds the Erich Maria Remarque Chair at New York University’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing, where she helped to found workshop programmes for residents of Coler-Goldwater Hospital, and for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Photo © Hilary Stone
Cape Poetry
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
Simon Armitage was born in West Yorkshire and is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. His collections...
Sean Borodale works as a poet and artist, making scriptive and documentary poems written on location; this derives...
Born in Cardiff, Gillian Clarke is a poet, playwright, editor, broadcaster, lecturer and translator (from Welsh). She edited the Anglo-Welsh...
Julia Copus has published four collections of poetry, including The World’s Two Smallest Humans, shortlisted for the T....
Jorie Graham was born in New York City in 1950 and raised in Rome. She has published more...
Kathleen Jamie was born in Scotland in 1962. She has published several collections of poetry, including: Black Spiders...
Jacob Polley was born in Carlisle in 1975. He is the author of five poetry collections: The Brink...
Deryn Rees-Jones was born in Liverpool with family links to North Wales. Her poetry collections (all Seren) are...
Paul Farley was born in Liverpool and studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He has published six...
Judges
CHAIR
Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of...
Videos
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). Sharon Olds has a long history with the T. S. Eliot Prize, having been shortlisted for...
Between 2006 and 2015, the Poetry Book Society ran the T. S. Eliot School Shadowing Scheme (later renamed the Writing Competition) in collaboration with the English and Media Centre, offering GCSE and A Level students the chance to get involved with the judging of the T. S. Eliot Prize. Two...
This article on the T. S. Eliot Prize was first published on the Poetry Book Society website in 2013. The Poetry Book Society is delighted to announce that Sharon Olds has won the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2012 with Stag’s Leap, published by Cape Poetry. She is...
This article on the T. S. Eliot Prize was first published on the Poetry Book Society website in 2012. The Poetry Book Society is pleased to announce the Shortlist for the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2012. Judges Carol Ann Duffy (Chair), Michael Longley and David Morley have chosen...
This article on the T. S. Eliot Prize was first published on the Poetry Book Society website in 2012. The Poetry Book Society is delighted to announce the judges for the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2012. Carol Ann Duffy will be Chair and the other two judges...
