And the winner is...
A glimpse into the creative process and the poetic thinking behind T. S. Eliot Prize-nominated collections. Seven poets – all either shortlisted for, or winners of, the T. S. Eliot Prize – explore the concepts behind their books, reflect on how particular poems came into being and share behind-the-scenes insights that illuminate their work in a rich and dynamic conversation around the art and craft of contemporary poetry.
Edited by: Nick Makoha
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After the applause: life, work, and poetry beyond the T. S. Eliot Prize
Nick Makoha
"What happens after the spotlight moves on? How does life settle once the pageantry fades, and the work continues in quieter, sometimes more urgent, ways?"
An invitation for six fellow poets – all either shortlisted for, or winners of, the T. S. Eliot Prize – to reflect on life after the prestigious award.
A Portable Paradise, shared
Roger Robinson
“Thirty years of work, and the first thing I won was the country’s biggest poetry prize.”
When a prize-winning collection takes on new meanings in the context of a global crisis.
Hoard / Archive
Sarah Howe
“I am not immune to this mania, this malaise, this inherited dream of an archive so complete nothing could ever hurt again.”
Reflections on the origins of a nominated collection, finding generative inspiration in a mother’s hoarding and a childhood home.
Life after the T. S. Eliot Prize
Joelle Taylor
“Winning was like knocking at a door for 30 years, only for a door in a different house to open.”
Reflections on the value of books and the purpose of prizes in a politicised world.
Change of heart
Hannah Lowe
“There are reasons we say we write poems, but there are also reasons hidden, even from ourselves.”
Personal upheavals weaved into a meditation on memory, identity and the spaces that nurture a poet’s work.
Poets en masse
Ella Frears
"When I think back, that memory is weighty and shining: a little gold ingot of an evening."
A celebration of the joy and camaraderie of poets together, from pandemic ceremonies to late-night conversations.
A sort of homecoming
James Conor Patterson
"It dawned on me that history’s battlefield must be littered with the corpses of one-trick ponies."
Tracing early commissions, creative anxieties, and a return to London to sustain practice.