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Shortlist for TS Eliot Prize announced

A diverse range of poets have made the list.
A diverse range of poets have made the list. A diverse range of poets have made the list.

A shortlist of “the finest and most fearless” poets has been announced for the TS Eliot Prize.

The annual £25,000 prize will be awarded to the best writer working in verse, as judged by the award panel.

Judges have narrowed down the best of British and Irish poetry publishing to produce a 10-strong shortlist.

The list features poetic talents including Pulitzer Prize-winner Sharon Olds, and hard-of-hearing poet Ilya Kaminsky.

Chairman of the prize judges John Burnside said: “In an excellent year for poetry, the judges read over 150 collections from every corner of these islands, and beyond.

“Each had its own vital energy, its own argument to make, its own celebration or requiem to offer, and we knew that settling upon 10 from so many fine books would be difficult.

“Nevertheless, as our deliberations progressed, the same titles kept coming to the fore, culminating in a list that brings together work by some of the finest and most fearless poets working today.”

The winner of the 2019 Prize will be announced on January 13 next year.

Here is the list in full:

Anthony Anaxagorou


After the Formalities

Fiona Benson  


Vertigo & Ghost

Jay Bernard  


Surge

Paul Farley       


The Mizzy

Ilya Kaminsky      


Deaf Republic

Sharon Olds   


Arias

Vidyan Ravinthiran 


The Million-Petalled Flower of Being Here

Deryn Rees-Jones


Erato

Roger Robinson     


A Portable Paradise

Karen Solie    


The Caiplie Caves