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Newcomer wins £15,000 poetry prize after tragic death of rival
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent13 Jan 2009
A NEWCOMER has beaten favourites Glyn Maxwell and Mick Imlah to take one of the most prestigious prizes in poetry.
But the victory of 30-year-old Jen Hadfield from Shetland was tinged with sadness after her rival Imlah died only hours before the TS Eliot Prize ceremony in London last night.
Hadfield, who won the £15,000 prize with her second collection Nigh-No-Place, said: "It buys me quite a lot of [writing] time."
But she said she was sad to win in such circumstances.
Scottish Imlah, 52, a poetry editor at the Times Literary Supplement, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease just over a year ago and published his own second collection, The Lost Leader, as the illness struck. It was 20 years after his acclaimed debut.
Andrew Motion, chairman of the TS Eliot Prize judges, said at the ceremony in Skinner's Hall that Hadfield was "a remarkably original poet near the beginning of what is obviously going to be a distinguished career".
He paid tribute to Imlah, a father-of-two, who he had known for more than 30 years since meeting at Oxford University.
"He was one of the cleverest, most interesting, amazing, talented and sweet-natured people I have ever met," said Motion.
Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, thanked Valerie Eliot, the poet's widow, for funding the prize in the name of "one of this country's towering literary figures".
Hadfield, who was born in Cheshire, published her first collection of work Almanacs in 2005. After winning the Eric Gregory Award she undertook a year's residence in Canada to give readings of her work. She used her experiences in Canada as well as her life in Shetland to inspire her Nigh-No-Place.
The poem Paternoster reimagines the Lord's Prayer as written by a draughthorse.
Mr Burnham also thanked Motion, the outgoing Poet Laureate, for his work in championing writing. "He has acted and served the cause of poetry and the written word with such incredible distinction and success," he said.
Sion Hamilton, of Foyles bookshop, said the TS Eliot Prize award was important for having the biggest prize money in poetry.
"For the poet, there is the pleasure of recognition, too. The list of previous winners is very strong. It reads like a canon of contemporary English poetry."
Reader views (1)
Poetry is about prizes then, is it?
- Paul Freeman, London, England, 13/01/2009 12:18
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