We’re finding it hard to wait until January for the T. S. Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings at the Southbank’s Royal Festival Hall… so we thought we’d relive some of the previous events by asking those took part about their experiences.
Jane Clarke was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2023 with A Change in the Air (Bloodaxe Books). She takes us back to the night of the event…
It’s dark outside this January evening. City lights gleam through drizzle and are reflected on the Thames as I walk to the Southbank Centre. I’m honoured to perform in the Royal Festival Hall and yet ‘royal’ implies imperial, colonial and all the reasons why I speak and write in English. Waiting in the green room with the other shortlisted poets, most of whom I’ve never met before, I’m nervous and awkward. But when we walk onto to the stage for a soundcheck I experience a surge of delight. While the sense of occasion and the sheer size of this elegant, wood-lined theatre could be overwhelming, what I feel more than anything is happiness to be here.
I wish my father had lived to see this and that my mother could take it in despite her dementia. My wife is in the front row, seated by chance beside a poet friend from London. Other poets I know from Ireland and the UK are in the audience as are my editor, niece, nephews and cousins. I’m glad that the results will not be announced until tomorrow evening so that this night can be a celebration of the many ways in which poetry conveys the joys, sorrows and vulnerabilities of living. ‘These fragments I have shored against my ruins…’
When the ceremony begins it’s hard to concentrate on the other readings and I find myself going over the short introductions I’ve prepared for each of the six poems I’ve chosen. After the first five poets, the interval and a film featuring the magnificent Sharon Olds, it’s time. There’s a long walk from my seat up the steps and across the stage to the lectern. The many-tiered auditorium is so full and so still. Ian McMillan’s familiar voice from the radio calms me. His appreciative words of introduction to each poet show how closely he has read the collections. When he says ‘I imagine Jane sitting outside writing these poems’, I find the voice I need to carry the poems from my home into this place of listening.
See and hear the Eliot Prize experience for yourself by booking now for the T. S. Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings 2025 at 7pm on Sunday 18 January 2026. The event will be British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted and includes live captioning. Tickets are available from the Southbank Centre’s website or by calling their box office on 020 3879 9555. You can also join us from the comfort of your own home via the live stream.
