The shortlist for the T S Eliot Prize for Poetry 2011 has just been announced – it is:
Black Cat Bone by John Burnside (Jonathan Cape)
The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy (Picador)
Profit and Loss by Leontia Flynn (Jonathan Cape)
Night by David Harsent (Faber)
Armour by John Kinsella (Picador)
Grace by Esther Morgan (Bloodaxe)
Tippo Sultan’s Incredible White-Man Easting Tiger Toy Machine!!! by Daljit Nagra (Faber)
November by Sean O’Brien (Picador)
Farmer’s Cross by Bernard O’Donoghue (Faber)
Memorial by Alice Oswald (Faber)
The Poetry Book Society is offering reading groups the chance to get involved with the best contemporary poetry through the T S Eliot Prize reading group scheme which aims to encourage fiction reading groups to read poetry. Reading groups guides with a biography and a photo of all 10 poets and three poems from their book, together with reading group notes are now available.
To get your reading group started, download the reading group guide to all the shortlisted poets. Download the individual reading group guides from the Poetry Book Society website, where you can also vote for your favourite poet.
Reading groups can get generous discounts on each title and sign up for a weekly email with background information and updates. You can also enter the draw for tickets for the celebratory T S Eliot Prize Readings in the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank on Sunday 15 January 2012. It should be a successful night – the 2010 Readings attracted one of the biggest audiences for a poetry event of recent times.
The judges of this year’s Prize are Chair Gillian Clarke, Stephen Knight and Dennis O’Driscoll. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony on Monday 16 January 2012.