Shortlist for 2008 T S Eliot Prize

October 31, 2008

by Suzan Abrams

Scottish poet Mick Imlah, whose second poetry collection The Lost Leader (Faber) recently won the £10,000 Forward Prize for best collection, heads this year's shortlist for the 2008 T S Eliot Prize. 2 decades ago, Imlah's first poetry collection Birthmarks had been published to wide critical acclaim.

The T S Eliot Prize is made up of the most lucrative cash award in British poetry. The winner takes home £15,000; an increase of £5,000 since last year while those on the shortlist can be assured of £1,000 each.

Other shortlisted poets include Moniza Alvi for Europa (Bloodaxe); Peter Bennett for The Glass Swarm (Flambard); Ciaran Carson for For All We Know (Gallery Books); Robert Crawford for Full Volume (Jonathan Cape); Jan Hadfield for Nigh-No-Place (Bloodaxe); Glyn Maxwell for Hide Now (Picador)and Stephen Romer for Yellow Studio (Carcanet).

The competition is currently celebrating its 15th year with publishers' entries totalling up to 90. The winner will be announced on January 12, 2009 and with arrangements similar to the Man Booker Prize earlier this month, all 10 poets will read at London's Southbank Centre on the eve of the event.