With American poet Sharon Olds announced as the unanimous winner of the TS Eliot Prize at last night’s ceremony at the Wallace Collection, you might have thought it had been a simple decision.
Judges Carol Ann Duffy and David Morley, however, explained that they struggled to whittle down to a shortlist of 10 — including Simon Armitage and Gillian Clarke — after enjoying other strong contenders.
“Number 11 for all of us was one book,” said Morley after the prizegiving, “It’s called Bevel by Billy Letford; a roofer by trade and a poet by vocation.” Duffy insisted that creative skill can come from unexpected places. “I can see why a roofer would make a good poet,” she said. “It’s about patterning and making and shaping, and poetry is very similar. Poets can be, and are, other things.” Morley added: “I used to be a scientist.”
