The T S Eliot Prize Shortlists have been announced! We're delighted to see PBS Recommendations and debut poets Hannah Sullivan, Fiona Moore, Phoebe Power and Zaffar Kunial on the shortlist alongside the US poet laureate Tracy K Smith and Terrance Hayes. Here is the full shortlist:
Ailbhe Darcy - Insistence - Bloodaxe
Terrance Hayes - American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassins - Penguin
Zaffar Kunial - Us - Faber
Nick Laird - Feel Free - Faber
Fiona Moore - The Distal Point - HappenStance
Sean O'Brien - Europa - Picador
Phoebe Power - Shrines of Upper Austria - Carcanet
Richard Scott - Soho - Faber
Tracey K. Smith - Wade in the Water - Penguin
Hannah Sullivan - Three Poems - Faber
The Judges for this year's award were recent PBS Choice Sinead Morrissey, Daljit Nagra and Clare Pollard.
Chair of the judges, Sinead Morrissey commented: "Poetry is a flourishing art form. We read 176 collections from a plethora of poetry publishers, both new and established, and felt privileged to listen in to such a lively, diverse and urgent conversation. With difficulty we chose our 10 brilliant poetry books of the year – many of them debut collections. Together they offer an invigorated language, confident mastery of form, and fresh, sophisticated perspectives on our uncertain times."
The T S Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings take place on Sunday 13th January 2019 in Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and the prize winner will be announced on 14th January.
The T S Eliot Prize, run by the T S Eliot Foundation, is the most valuable prize in British poetry, with the winning poet receiving a cheque for £25,000 and the shortlisted poets each receiving £1,500. Last year’s winner was Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Jonathan Cape) which was a Summer PBS Recommendation.
PBS Members can order copies of all of the books via the links above with their 25% off members discount.