Black Cat Bone wins TS Eliot Prize

From Black Cat Bone by John Burnside

Last night we attended the TS Eliot Prize ceremony at Haberdashers’ Hall in West Smithfield, London, a glittery event attended by an assortment of literary figures, with plenty of wine and canapés circulating.

Congratulations go to John Burnside who won the prize of £15,000 for his 11th book of poetry, Black Cat Bone, described by the judges as ‘a haunting book of great beauty, powered by love, childhood memory, human longing and loneliness’.

Gillian Clarke, chair of judges, said: ‘In an exceptional year, (Black Cat Bone) is an outstanding book, one which the judges felt grew with every reading.’

Scottish poet, John Burnside, teaches at the University of St Andrews and won the Whitbread Poetry Award in 2000 for The Asylum Dance, which was also shortlisted for the Forward and TS Eliot prizes.

Last year the TS Eliot Prize went to Derek Walcott, and previous winners include Ted Hughes, Carol Ann Duffy and Seamus Heaney.

Congratulations go also to the shortlisted poets, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Leontia Flynn, David Harsent, Esther Morgan, Daljit Nagra, Sean O'Brien and Bernard O'Donoghue, who all received £1,000 prize money.

Find out more about John Burnside

Find out more about the TS Eliot Prize