Cape tussles with indies on T S Eliot shortlist

Titles from Cape Poetry will tussle with works from independent publishers Carcanet, Faber, Bloodaxe and Nine Arches for the T S Eliot Prize. Meanwhile, the prize money has been increased by £5,000 to £25,000 to mark the 25th anniversary of the prize, the organisers revealed.

Cape Poetry has the most titles on the list with four, while Carcanet is just behind on three. Shortlisted from Cape Poetry are James Sheard's The Abandoned Settlements, Ocean Vuong's Night Sky with Exit Wounds, Michael Symmons' Roberts Mancunia and Leontia Flynn's The Radio, while works from Carcanet are Tara Bergin's The Tragic Death of Eleanor Marx, In these Days of Prohibition by Caroline Bird, and Robert Minhinnick for Diary of the Last Man.

Rounding out the shortlist is Douglas Dunn's The Noise of a Fly (Faber & Faber), Roddy Lumsden's So Glad I’m Me (Bloodaxe) and Jacqueline Saphra's All My Mad Mothers (Nine Arches Press).

Judges Bill Herbert, James Lasdun and Helen Mort selected the shortlist from a "record" 154 poetry collections submitted by publishers.

Herbert said the submissions "possessed" as well as "intrigued" the judging panel.

“This was a very strong year, and it was a privilege to read so many books that possessed as well as intrigued us; our shortlist explores grief, pleasure, place and history in a formidable variety of ways", he said.

Run by The T S Eliot Foundation, the prize is British poetry's richest, with each shortlisted poet receiving £1,500 as well as the winner potting £25,000.

Readings for the shortlist will take place on Sunday 14th January 2018 in Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, hosted by Ian McMillan. Tickets are now on sale from the Southbank Centre.

The winner of the 2017 prize will be announced on Monday 15th January 2018.

Last year’s winner was Jacob Polley for Jackself (Picador).