Tag: 2022

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)

JEAN SPRACKLAND TO CHAIR 2022 T. S. ELIOT PRIZE JUDGING PANEL

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JEAN SPRACKLAND TO CHAIR 2022 T. S. ELIOT PRIZE JUDGING PANEL

 

The T. S. Eliot Foundation is delighted to announce the judges for the 2022 Prize. The panel will be chaired by Jean Sprackland, alongside Hannah Lowe and Roger Robinson

The 2022 judging panel will be looking for the best new poetry collection written in English and published in 2022. The prize is unique in that entrants are judged by their peers; the panel always consists of established poets.

Jean Sprackland said:

The T. S. Eliot Prize is a vibrant and vital part of our poetry culture, and it’s an honour to act as chair of judges this year. Of all the pleasures involved, there are two I’m particularly excited about. First, the time spent reading, and the view that will offer of the poetry being written now, in all its breadth and variety. And second, the joy of sitting down with Hannah and Roger – two poets I greatly admire – and sharing our discoveries together.

The call for submissions will go out in June, with the submission window closing at the end of July.

Following the retirement of Chris Holifield at the end of June, the T. S. Eliot Foundation is also pleased to announce that Mike Sims has been appointed as Director of the T. S. Eliot Prize as from 1 June.

Mike Sims said: “I’m delighted to be taking on the role of managing such a celebrated and successful award as the T. S. Eliot Prize. It has had an unerring knack of bringing the very best poetry collections to the fore since it was founded in 1993 by the Poetry Book Society, and now under the careful guardianship of the T. S. Eliot Foundation. It has been in excellent hands throughout the decades, thanks to Chris Holifield. I look forward to following her example in the years ahead.”

Chris Holifield said: “It has been a been a privilege and a pleasure to run the T. S. Eliot Prize for twenty years, fourteen of them for the Poetry Book Society and six under the aegis of the T. S. Eliot Foundation, and to play a part in its growth in influence and prestige.”

 The 2022 T. S. Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings will take place on Sunday 15 January 2023 at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall (tickets on sale later this year). The shortlist readings are the largest annual poetry event in the UK.

The winner of the 2022 Prize will be announced at the Award Ceremony on Monday 16 January 2023. The T. S. Eliot Prize continues to be 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.

Last year’s winner was Joelle Taylor’s C+nto and Othered Poems and the judges were Glyn Maxwell (chair), Caroline Bird and Zaffar Kunial.

For more information on this year’s judges visit the T. S. Eliot Prize website at http://tseliot.com/prize/the-t-s-eliot-prize-2022/judges/.