Top (L–R): Ahana Banerji, Joe Wright, Priyanka Moorjani, Orla Davey, Tallulah Howarth.
Bottom (L–R): Eira Murphy, Priya Abularach, Elliot Ruff, Sylvie Jane Lewis, Tusshara Nalakumar Srilatha
The Poetry Society and T. S. Eliot Prize are delighted to announce the cohort for the third instalment of their partnership programme, the Young Critics Scheme. The ten young writers selected will each review one of the poetry collections shortlisted for the 2024 T. S. Eliot Prize.
The young reviewers selected to take part in this year’s scheme are: Ahana Banerji, Eira Murphy, Elliot Ruff, Joe Wright, Orla Davey, Priya Abularach, Priyanka Moorjani, Sylvie Jane Lewis, Tallulah Howarth, and Tusshara Nalakumar Srilatha.
The Young Critics will take part in a series of series of expert-led workshops and will be invited to attend the T. S. Eliot Prize readings in London. Their reviews will be created in video form and posted to The Poetry Society and T. S. Eliot Prize’s YouTube channels, offering fresh perspectives on the shortlisted books in anticipation of the announcement of the Prize winner in January.
This year the scheme received twice as many applications as expected. Michael Sims, Director of the T. S. Eliot Prize, said:
I’m delighted that the third year of the excellent Young Critics Scheme has drawn so many applications, a testament to The Poetry Society team’s expert curation of the programme and the calibre and creativity of the previous years’ cohorts. The video reviews of the Eliot Prize shortlists have been astonishingly perceptive and inventive. I am so looking forward to seeing what this year’s Young Critics produce.
Introducing this year’s Young Critics
Ahana Banerji is a three-time Foyle Young Poet. In 2022, she was the youngest shortlisted poet for the White Review Poet’s Prize. Her work is published or forthcoming in Bad Lilies, Anthropocene, and Oxford Poetry. Her debut poetry pamphlet is Piecemeal (Nine Pens Press). She is currently studying English at the University of Cambridge.
Eira Murphy is a previous Foyle Young Poet of the Year and Young Poet Laureate for Liverpool. Eira has been published in Banshee Magazine, Propel, and The Oxford Review of Books. Her debut pamphlet, Whetstone, was published by ignitionpress in 2023.
Elliot Ruff is originally from Shrewsbury and works in publishing. He has previously worked at Wordsworth Grasmere and is currently a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he has recently completed a dissertation project with Guillemot Press.
Joe Wright is a poet from the North Pennines. He was a Foyle Young Poet of the Year 2022, and highly commended in the Young Northern Writers’ Awards 2023. His poetry has been published in Carmen et Error and The Mays 32. He studies English at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Orla Davey studies MLitt English Literature at the University of Glasgow and writes poetry reviews for Dundee University Review of the Arts. Her creative writing has been performed at the Dundee Women’s Festival, and published by The Magdalen Magazine, Glasgow University Magazine, Creative Dundee, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Priya Abularach is based in London. She has written for The Poetry Society and the Stratford Literary Festival, and she has practical experience as an arts columnist, translator and interviewer. Her work explores the intersection between poetry and modern cognitive sciences, taking a special interest in the memory. She studies English at Cambridge University.
Priyanka Moorjani, aka PM, is a prize-winning spoken word poet. They have been part of London’s spoken word scene for seven years, performing at events and festivals across the UK while putting good vibes at the heart of all their performances. You can also find them being nerdy on TikTok and YouTube @poetpri.
Sylvie Jane Lewis’s poetry has placed in the Cambridge University Poetry & Prose Society Prize (winner 2023), the Sykes Prize (runner-up 2023), and the Bridport Prize (commended 2020), and featured in Ink Sweat and Tears, Feral, and Riptide x Culture Matters. She has an English MPhil from Cambridge and works in a public library.
Tallulah Howarth is a multidisciplinary creative, currently studying for an MA in Writing Poetry at Newcastle University. They have previously been published in Ecosystems of Fury and the Leeds Poetry Festival anthology, among others. Shortlisted in the top five for the BBC Young Writers’ Award, her work is observational and intimate.
Tusshara Nalakumar Srilatha is a writer and editor in London. Her poetry explores dynamics of belonging, the malleability of memory, and the interplay of human and non-human life. She is the Associate Editor for Off Assignment magazine.