T. S. Eliot Shortlist 2023 Announced

The ten shortlisted collections for this year’s T. S. Eliot Prize have been announced today.

Three of the shortlisted poets have recently featured in The Poetry Review: Sharon Olds’, former winner, Balladz, poems of which appeared in The Poetry Review Autumn 2022; Joe Carrick-Varty’s More Sky, which was reviewed by Alycia Pirmohamed in The Poetry Review Summer 2023; and Katie Farris’ Standing in the Forest of Being Alive, reviewed by Jack Belloli in The Poetry Review Autumn 2023.

Also on the shortlist are: Jason Allen-Paisant’s Self-Portrait as Othello; Jane Clarke’s A Change in the Air; Kit Fan The Ink Cloud Reader; Ishion Hutchinson’s School of Instructions; Hyena! by Fran Lock, Fran has been in the top ten for the National Poetry Competition three times for her poems ‘Epistle from inside the Sharknado‘, ‘Gentleman Caller‘ and ‘Last exit to Luton‘; Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s The Map of the World; and  Abigail Parry’s I Think We’re Alone Now.  

For the first time ever, two of the collections, Katie Farris’s Standing in the Forest of Being Alive and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s The Map of the World, fall beneath the 48 page limit. The books were submitted by publishers and put before the judges in error, but when notified of this, the judges declined to exclude them. They said: 

We are aware that two of the titles on the list fall short of the 48 pages required. However, both are fully achieved poetry collections that merit their inclusion on the shortlist.

The Poetry Review recently covered the culture of pamphlets and shorter books in Jeremy Noel-Tod’s ‘Magic Papers’, available to read on The Poetry Society website here.

All ten of these books will be reviewed by the Young Critics, a collaborative project between Young Poets Network and the T. S. Eliot Prize. The books will be reviewed in videos uploaded to the T. S. Eliot Prize YouTube Channel later this year. You can watch last year’s videos on their channel here. 

Judges Paul Muldoon (Chair), Sasha Dugdale and Denise Saul have chosen the T. S. Eliot Prize 2023 shortlist from 186 poetry collections submitted by British and Irish publishers. Paul Muldoon spoke on behalf of the judges, saying:

We are confident that all ten shortlisted titles not only meet the high standards they set themselves but speak most effectively to, and of, their moment. If there’s a single word for that moment it is surely ‘disrupted’, and all these poets properly reflect that disruption. Shot through though they are with images of grief, migration, and conflict, they are nonetheless imbued with energy and joy. The names of some poets will be familiar, others less so; all will find a place in your head and heart

The T. S. Eliot Prize 2023 Shortlist Readings will take place on Sunday 14 January 2024 at 7pm in the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall as part of its literature programme. Tickets will go on sale later this year. The winner of the 2023 Prize will be announced at the Award Ceremony on Monday 15 January 2024. For full information on this year’s Prize, visit the T. S. Eliot Prize website at tseliot.com/prize

3rd October 2023