Sean O’Brien on TS Eliot shortlist

Congratulations to North East poet Sean O’Brien, whose collection, November (Picador), has been shortlisted for the 2011 TS Eliot Prize for Poetry. Sean won the prize in 2007 with The Drowned Book. That same year, he won the Northern Rock Foundation Writers’ Award, as well as the Forward Prize for Best Collection. This was the first time a poet had been awarded the Forward and the Eliot prizes in the same year. Also among the honours was Northumberland-based publisher Bloodaxe Books, which was shortlisted for Esther Morgan’s collection, Grace.

The winner will be announced on the evening of Monday 16 January 2012 at the TS Eliot Prize Award Ceremony, which will be held in the Haberdashers’ Hall, London, when the winner will be presented with a cheque for £15,000 and each of the shortlisted poets will receive a cheque for £1,000.