The T.S. Eliot Prize: “Three Poems” by Hannah Sullivan

The T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is an annual award given to the best new poetry collection in the United Kingdom or Ireland. It’s been called the poetry prize that British poets most want to win. The prestige associated with the prize is large; so is the prize money, some 25,000 pounds, or about $32,500 at current exchange rates. 

The 2018 prize winner was Three Poems by British poet, writer, and professor Hannah Sullivan. The collection is indeed three poems: “You, Very Young in New York;” “Repeat Until Time;” and “The Sandpit After Rain.” These aren’t three poems that go on and on for pages; they have breaks, and even numbered subheads like “2.3” and “Hospital Windowsills.” Thematically, however, the collection is three poems. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

The T.S. Eliot Prize: “Night Sky with Exit Wounds” by Ocean Vuong

Poet Ocean Vuong spent the first two years of his life in a refugee camp. When he was two, he, His mother, and grandmother settled in the United States. He never knew his father. He grew up hearing the stories of Vietnam from his mother and grandmother. Born in a country he can’t remember, and with a father he never knew, and likely asking questions that could never be answered, Vuong did what many of us might do.

He created a past life. Part of that creation became Night Sky with Exit Wounds, which won the 2016 Whiting Award and has now won the 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize.

The collection is comprised of some 35 poems. Several of the poems are directly about his father, and Vuong imagines different reasons (and realities) for not knowing him.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

T.S. Eliot Prize: “Jackself” by Jacob Polley

It was a packed house at the Southbank Centre Royal Festival Hall in London on Jan. 16. Ten poets were reading from their works, all nominated for the most prestigious award in British poetry – the T.S Eliot Foundation’s T.S. Eliot Prize. The prize is also a financial one – 20,000 pounds (about $26,000 at current exchange rates). Each of the 10 shortlisted nominees received 1,500 pounds (about $1,900).

Bernard O’Donoghue was there, reading from The Seasons of Cullen Church. Vahni Capildeo read from Measures of Expatriation (reviewed at Tweetspeak Poetry last November; it won the Forward Prize). With the other eight, they represent some of the British poets writing today.

The winner was Jackself by Cumbrian poet Jacob Polley.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Poets and Poems: Sarah Howe and “Loop of Jade”

One of the most prestigious (and financially rewarding) prizes in poetry is the Poetry Book Society’s T.S. Eliot Prize. Founded in 1953 by T.S. Eliot and several friends to “propagate the art of poetry,” the Poetry Book Society is based in the United Kingdom and draws interest from all over the English-Speaking world. The prize, created in 1993, provides 20,000 pounds (about $30,000) to the winner and 1,500 pounds (about $2,250) to each of the other nine shortlisted nominees.

The 2015 shortlist was impressive, including such stellar poets at Mark Doty, Sean O’Brien and Claudia Rankine. All 10 nominees participated in a program of readings in London before the winner was announced.

This year’s winner was Sarah Howe for her first collection of poetry, Loop of Jade. It’s a beautiful collection of 37 poems, filled with precision, imagery, and flat-out beauty.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Photograph: poet Sarah Howe, winner of the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize.