This article on the T. S. Eliot Prize was first published on the Poetry Book Society website in 2014.

The Poetry Book Society is delighted to announce a wonderfully strong and varied Shortlist for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2014, with two poets from the US, one from India, three previous winners and one debut collection.

Judges Helen Dunmore (Chair), Sean Borodale and Fiona Sampson have chosen the Shortlist from 113 books submitted by publishers:

Fiona Benson – Bright Travellers (Cape Poetry)

John Burnside – All One Breath (Cape Poetry)

Louise Glück – Faithful and Virtuous Night (Carcanet Press)

David Harsent – Fire Songs (Faber & Faber)

Michael Longley – The Stairwell (Cape Poetry)

Ruth Padel – Learning to Make an Oud in Nazareth (Chatto & Windus)

Pascale Petit – Fauverie (Seren)

Kevin Powers – Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting (Sceptre)

Arundhathi Subramaniam – When God is a Traveller (Bloodaxe Books)

Hugo Williams – I Knew the Bride (Faber & Faber)

Chair Helen Dunmore said: ‘After reading more than a hundred poetry collections the three judges for this year’s T. S. Eliot Prize were delighted – and excited – by the quality of the work submitted. Our Shortlist reflects the musicality, mastery and ambition of these ten chosen poets. It’s worth saying that while our discussions were searching, our decisions were in all cases unanimous. As one judge said when we surveyed the pile of shortlisted books at the end of our meeting: ‘This is a box-set I’d love to have’.’

To mark the 50th anniversary of T. S. Eliot’s death on 4 January 2015, the T. S. Eliot Estate has increased the value of the Prize named in his honour. From this year the winner will receive £20,000 and the ten shortlisted poets will each receive £1,500. The T. S. Eliot Estate has also extended its support to become sole sponsor of the Prize.

The T. S. Eliot Prize Readings will take place on Sunday 11 January 2015 in Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall with the winner announced the following day. The Shortlist Readings are the largest annual poetry event in the UK.

The T. S. Eliot Prize Reading Groups Scheme enables reading groups and individual readers to read and discuss the Shortlist, and the T. S. Eliot Prize Shadowing Scheme, run with the English and Media Centre, offers A Level students a chance to engage with the latest new poetry by shadowing the judges and taking part in a writing competition.

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.