Congratulations to Jen Hadfieldfor winning the T S Eliot Prize 2008 for Nigh-No-Place(Bloodaxe).

 

This other poets on the shortlist were:

Moniza Alvi for Europa(PBloodaxe)
Peter Bennet for The Glass Swarm(Flambard)
Ciaran Carson for For All We Know (Gallery)
Robert Crawford for Full Volume (Jonathan Cape)
Maura Dooley for Life Under Water (Bloodaxe)
Mark Doty for Theories and Apparitions (Jonathan Cape)
Mick Imlah for The Lost Leader (Faber)
Glyn Maxwell for Hide Now (Picador)
Stephen Romer for Yellow Studio (Carcanet)

 

The winner of the T S Eliot Prize 2008 was announced at the awards ceremony at Skinners' Hall on Monday 12th January 2009.

On Sunday 11th January, the 10 poets read from their collections at a special event at the Southbanks's Queen Elizabeth Hall - one of the biggest audiences for modern poetry in recent times

The T S Eliot Prize Shadowing Scheme, which allows students to shadow the judging process and to read and comment on excerpts from all the shortlisted collections, was won by Patrick Ford of Marlborough College, Marlborough. Click here to read Patrick's essay on the Guardian website.

The T S Eliot Prize is now the biggest cash award in UK poetry, increased from £10,000 to £15,000. In a move which was widely welcomed, each of the 10 shortlisted poets also received£1000. The £15,000 prize money was kindly donated by Eliot's widow, Mrs Valerie Eliot (pictured below).