Ten shortlisted collections for this year’s TS Eliot Prize were recently announced. Two Jamaican writers, Jason Allen-Paisant (Self-Portrait as Othello) and Ishion Hutchinson (School of Instructions), have been named on the list. Jason Allen-Paisant notably recently won the 2023 Forward Prize for Best Collection for Self-Portrait As Othello published by Carcanet Press, which Forward Chair of Judges Bernardine Evaristo called, in part, “an exhilarating and propulsive read”.

Judges Paul Muldoon (Chair), Sasha Dugdale and Denise Saul have chosen the TS Eliot Prize 2023 shortlist from 186 poetry collections submitted by British and Irish publishers. Muldoon spoke on behalf of the judges, saying:

“We are confident that all 10 shortlisted titles not only meet the high standards they set themselves but speak most effectively to, and of, their moment. If there’s a single word for that moment it is surely ‘disrupted’, and all these poets properly reflect that disruption. Shot through though they are with images of grief, migration, and conflict, they are nonetheless imbued with energy and joy. The names of some poets will be familiar, others less so; all will find a place in your head and heart.”

The list in full:

• Jason Allen-Paisant
Self-Portrait as Othello (Carcanet Press)

• Joe Carrick-Varty
More Sky (Carcanet Press)

• Jane Clarke
A Change in the Air (Bloodaxe Books)

• Kit Fan
The Ink Cloud Reader (Carcanet Press)

• Katie Farris
Standing in the Forest of Being Alive (Pavilion Poetry, Liverpool University Press)

• Ishion Hutchinson
School of Instructions (Faber & Faber)

• Fran Lock
Hyena! (Poetry Bus Press)

• Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
The Map of the World (Gallery Press)

• Sharon Olds
Balladz (Cape Poetry)

• Abigail Parry
I Think We’re Alone Now (Bloodaxe Books)

In 2020 Roger Robinson of Trinidad and Tobago had won the prestigious prize for his
A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree) and in 2022, Anthony Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago won for his
Sonnets for Albert (Bloomsbury Poetry). In 2011, Derek Walcott of Saint Lucia/Trinidad had won for
White Egrets (Farrar, Straus, Giroux).

The winner of the 2023 prize will be announced at the award ceremony on Monday, January 15, 2024.