The winner of the 2013 T.S. Eliot Prize has been announced as Parallax by Sinéad Morrissey, published by Carcanet.
Chair Ian Duhig said:
“In a year of brilliantly themed collections, the judges were unanimous in choosing Sinéad Morrissey’s Parallax as the winner. Politically, historically and personally ambitious, expressed in beautifully turned language, her book is as many-angled and any-angled as its title suggests.”
Sinéad Morrissey was made Belfast’s first Poet Laureate in 2013. She has published five poetry collections, four of which have been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.
Reading groups competition
In the run up to the announcement, we invited reading groups to discuss the shortlist and produce a write-up of their discussion. The winning entry was Stoke Newington Library Poetry Group:
“The Stoke Newington Library Poetry Group really enjoyed the poems from the ten shortlisted poets. We were struck by their diversity, both in terms of their backgrounds and poetic styles, but some members also pointed out recurring themes, and speculated about the influence of Seamus Heaney even when, stylistically, one wouldn’t have expected it.
We began our session by looking at two ‘postcard’ poems – influenced perhaps by our reading of Craig Raine’s ‘A Martian Sends a Postcard Home’ in a recent meeting. We were struck by the vivid beach scene in ‘Postcard from San Benedetto del Tronto’ by Maurice Riordan; the phrase ‘simmering oiled pulchritude’ being especially enjoyed.
Much darker, and more resistant to easy interpretation, was ‘Postcard: From a Tower’ by George Szirtes. We collectively worked out a reading of the poem, focussing on the sense of loss and disorientation after war, and admired its elegant sonnet structure.
We looked at a number of other poets and regretted they couldn’t all win prizes – each having their own unique virtues. We had our own vote though, to decide who we’d appoint the winner. Dannie Abse came in third, close behind Maurice Riordan, but Moniza Alvi was the clear popular winner."
Get involved
Have you read Parallax by Sinéad Morrissey, or any of the shortlisted titles? Share your thoughts below.
On the Poetry Book Society website, you’ll find reading group discussion notes about the shortlisted titles, and an article about overcoming any anxiety about reading poetry: Who’s Afraid of T.S. Eliot?
