The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize for poetry awarded by the T. S. Eliot Foundation. For many years it was awarded by the Eliots' Poetry Book Society (UK) for "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Prize was inaugurated in 1993 in celebration of the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and in honour of its founding poet, T. S. Eliot. Since its inception, the prize money was donated by Eliot's widow, Valerie Eliot and more recently it has been given by the T. S. Eliot Estate.
The T. S. Eliot Foundation took over the administration of the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2016, appointing as its new director Chris Holifield (formerly director of the Poetry Book Society), when the former Poetry Book Society charity had to be wound up, with its book club and company name taken over by book sales agency Inpress Ltd in Newcastle. Holifield retired at the end of June 2022 after 20 years in the post, and was replaced by Mike Sims. The winner now receives £25,000 and the ten shortlisted poets each receive £1,500, making it the United Kingdom's most valuable annual poetry competition. The Prize has been called "the most coveted award in poetry".
The shortlist for the Prize is announced in October of each year, and the 10 shortlisted poets take part in the Readings at the Royal Festival Hall in London's Southbank Centre on the evening before the announcement of the Prize. Two thousand people attended the 2011 reading.
Winners and Shortlists
1990s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Author !! Title
!Publisher!! Result !! Ref
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 1993
| Ciaran Carson||First Language: Poems
| Gallery Press|| Won ||
|-
| Moniza Alvi||The Country at My Shoulder
| OUP / Oxford Poetry|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Gillian Allnutt||Lintel
| Bloodaxe Books|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Simon Armitage||The Universal Home Doctor
| Faber & Faber|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Billy Collins||Nine Horses
| Picador Poetry|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| John F. Deane||Manhandling the Deity
|Carcanet Press
|-
| Ian Duhig||The Lammas Hireling
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Lavinia Greenlaw||Minsk
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Jamie McKendrick||Ink Stone
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Bernard O'Donoghue||Outiving
|Chatto & Windus
|-
| Jacob Polley ||The Brink
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Christopher Reid||For and After
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Jean Sprackland||Hard Water
|Cape Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2004
|George Szirtes
|Reel
|Bloodaxe Books
|Won
|
|-
|Polly Clark
|Take Me with You
|Bloodaxe Books
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Simon Armitage
|Tyrannosaurus Rex versus The Corduroy Kid
|Faber & Faber
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Ian Duhig
|The Speed of Dark
|Picador Poetry
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Alan Gillis
|Hawks and Doves
|Gallery Press
|-
|Sophie Hannah
|Pessimism for Beginners
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Mimi Khalvati
|The Meanest Flower
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Frances Leviston
|Public Dream
|Picador Poetry
|-
|Sarah Maguire
|The Pomegranates of Kandahar
|Chatto & Windus
|-
|Edwin Morgan
|A Book of Lives
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Fiona Sampson
|Common Prayer
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Matthew Sweeney
|Black Moon
|Cape Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2008
|Jen Hadfield
|Nigh-No-Place
|Bloodaxe Books
|Won
|
|-
|Moniza Alvi
|Europa
|Bloodaxe Books
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Peter Bennet
|The Glass Swarm
|Flambard Press
|-
|Ciarán Carson
|For All We Know
|Gallery Press
|-
|Robert Crawford
|Full Volume
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Maura Dooley
|Life Under Water
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Mark Doty
|Theories and Apparitions
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Mick Imlah
|The Lost Leader
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Glyn Maxwell
|Hide Now
|Picador Poetry
|-
|Stephen Romer
|Yellow Studio
|Carcanet Press
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2009
|Philip Gross
|The Water Table
|Bloodaxe Books
|Won
|
|-
|Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
|The Sun-fish
|Gallery Press
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Fred D'Aguiar
|Continental Shelf
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Jane Draycott
|Over
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Sinéad Morrissey
|Through the Square Window
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Sharon Olds
|One Secret Thing
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Alice Oswald
|Weeds & Wild Flowers
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Christopher Reid
|A Scattering
|Areté
|-
|George Szirtes
|The Burning of the Books and Other Poems
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Hugo Williams
|West End Final
|Faber & Faber
|}
2010s
2011 saw two shortlisted nominees, including 2002 winner Alice Oswald, withdraw their works as a protest against the sponsor.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Author !! Title
!Publisher!! Result !! Ref
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2010
| Derek Walcott||White Egrets
| Faber & Faber|| Won ||
|-
| Simon Armitage||Seeing Stars
| Faber & Faber|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Annie Freud||The Mirabelles
|Picador Poetry
|-
| John Haynes||You
|Seren Books
|-
| Seamus Heaney||Human Chain
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Pascale Petit||What the Water Gave Me
|Seren Books
|-
| Robin Robertson ||The Wrecking Light
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Fiona Sampson||Rough Music
|Carcanet Press
|-
| Brian Turner||Phantom Noise
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Sam Willetts||New Light for the Old Dark
|Cape Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2011
| John Burnside||Black Cat Bone
| Cape Poetry|| Won ||
|-
| Carol Ann Duffy||The Bees
| Picador Poetry|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Leontia Flynn
|Profit and Loss
|Cape Poetry
|-
| David Harsent||Night
|Faber & Faber
|-
| John Kinsella||Armour (withdrawn by the author in protest)
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Esther Morgan||Grace
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Daljit Nagra||Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!!
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Sean O'Brien||November
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Bernard O'Donoghue||Farmer's Cross
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Alice Oswald||Memorial (withdrawn by the author in protest)
|Faber & Faber
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2012
| Sharon Olds||Stag's Leap
| Cape Poetry|| Won ||
|-
| Simon Armitage||The Death of King Arthur
| Faber & Faber|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Sean Borodale||Bee Journal
|Cape Poetry
|-
| Gillian Clarke||Ice
|Carcanet Press
|-
| Julia Copus||The World's Two Smallest Humans
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Paul Farley||The Dark Film
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Jorie Graham||P L A C E
|Carcanet Press
|-
| Kathleen Jamie||The Overhaul
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Jacob Polley||The Havocs
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Deryn Rees-Jones||Burying the Wren
|Seren Books
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2013
| Sinéad Morrissey||Parallax
| Carcanet Press|| Won ||
|-
| Dannie Abse||Speak, Old Parrot
| Hutchinson|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Moniza Alvi||At the Time of Partition
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Anne Carson||Red Doc>
|Cape Poetry
|-
| Helen Mort||Division Street
|Chatto & Windus
|-
| Daljit Nagra||Ramayana: A Retelling
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Maurice Riordan||The Water Stealer
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Robin Robertson||Hill of Doors
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Michael Symmons Roberts||Drysalter
|Cape Poetry
|-
| George Szirtes||Bad Machine
|Bloodaxe Books
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2014
|David Harsent
|Fire Songs
|Faber & Faber
|Won
|
|-
|Fiona Benson
|Bright Travellers
|Cape Poetry
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|John Burnside
|All One Breath
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Louise Glück
|Faithful and Virtuous Night
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Michael Longley
|The Stairwell
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Ruth Padel
|Learning to Make an Oud in Nazareth
|Chatto & Windus
|-
|Pascale Petit
|Fauverie
|Poetry Wales Press
|-
|Kevin Powers
|Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting
|Little, Brown / Sceptre
|-
|Arundhathi Subramaniam
|When God is a Traveller
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Hugo Williams
|I Knew the Bride
|Faber & Faber
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2015
|Sarah Howe
|Loop of Jade
|Chatto & Windus
|Won
|
|-
|Mark Doty
|Deep Lane
|Cape Poetry
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Tracey Herd
|Not in This World
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Selima Hill
|Jutland
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Tim Liardet
|The World Before Snow
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Les Murray
|Waiting for the Past
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Sean O'Brien
|The Beautiful Librarians
|Picador Poetry
|-
|Don Paterson
|40 Sonnets
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Rebecca Perry
|Beauty/Beauty
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Claudia Rankine
|Citizen: An American Lyric
|Penguin Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2016
|Jacob Polley
|Jackself
|Picador Poetry
|Won
|
|-
|Rachael Boast
|Void Studies
|Picador Poetry
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Vahni Capildeo
|Measures of Expatriation
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Ian Duhig
|The Blind Road-Maker
|Picador Poetry
|-
|J. O. Morgan
|Interference Pattern
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Bernard O'Donoghue
|The Seasons of Cullen Church
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Alice Oswald
|Falling Awake
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Denise Riley
|Say Something Back
|Picador Poetry
|-
|Ruby Robinson
|Every Little Sound
|Pavilion / Liverpool University Press
|-
|Katharine Towers
|The Remedies
|Picador Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2017
|Ocean Vuong
|Night Sky with Exit Wounds
|Cape Poetry
|Won
|
|-
|Tara Bergin
|The Tragic Death of Eleanor Marx
|Carcanet Press
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Caroline Bird
|In these Days of Prohibition
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Douglas Dunn
|The Noise of a Fly
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Leontia Flynn
|The Radio
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Roddy Lumsden
|So Glad I'm Me
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Michael Symmons Roberts
|Mancunia
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Robert Minhinnick
|Diary of the Last Man
|Carcanet Press
|-
|James Sheard
|The Abandoned Settlements
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Jacqueline Saphra
|All My Mad Mothers
|Nine Arches Press
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2018
|Hannah Sullivan
|Three Poems
|Faber & Faber
|Won
|
|-
|Ailbhe Darcy
|Insistence
|Bloodaxe Books
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Terrance Hayes
|American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassins
|Penguin Poetry
|-
|Zaffar Kunial
|Us
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Nick Laird
|Feel Free
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Fiona Moore
|The Distal Point
|HappenStance
|-
|Sean O'Brien
|Europa
|Picador Poetry
|-
|Phoebe Power
|Shrines of Upper Austria
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Richard Scott
|Soho
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Tracy K. Smith
|Wade in the Water
|Penguin Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" |2019
|Roger Robinson
|A Portable Paradise
|Peepal Tree Press
|Won
|
|-
|Anthony Anaxagorou
|After the Formalities
|Penned in the Margins
| rowspan="9" |Shortlisted
| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Fiona Benson
|Vertigo and Ghost
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Jay Bernard
|Surge
|Chatto & Windus
|-
|Paul Farley
|The Mizzy
|Picador Poetry
|-
|Ilya Kaminsky
|Deaf Republic
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Sharon Olds
|Arias
|Cape Poetry
|-
|Vidyan Ravinthiran
|The Million-Petalled Flower of Being Here
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Deryn Rees-Jones
|Erato
|Seren Books
|-
|Karen Solie
|The Caiplie Caves
|Picador Poetry
|}
2020s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Author !! Title
! Publisher!! Result !! Ref
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2020
| Bhanu Kapil || How to Wash a Heart
|Pavilion Poetry|| Won||
|-
| Natalie Diaz || Postcolonial Love Poem
|Faber & Faber|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Sasha Dugdale || Deformations
|Carcanet Press
|-
| Ella Frears || Shine, Darling
|Offord Road Books
|-
| Will Harris || RENDANG
|Granta Poetry
|-
| Wayne Holloway-Smith || Love Minus Love
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Daisy Lafarge || Life Without Air
|Granta Poetry
|-
| Glyn Maxwell || How the Hell Are You
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Shane McCrae || Sometimes I Never Suffered
|Corsair Poetry
|-
| J. O. Morgan || The Martian's Regress
|Cape Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2021
| Joelle Taylor || C+nto & Othered Poems
|The Westbourne Press|| Won|| '
|-
| Raymond Antrobus|| All the Names Given
|Picador Poetry|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
|Kayo Chingonyi
|A Blood Condition
|Chatto & Windus
|-
| Selima Hill|| Men Who Feed Pigeons
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Victoria Kennefick|| Eat or We Both Starve
|Carcanet Press
|-
| Hannah Lowe || The Kids
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Michael Symmons Roberts|| Ransom
|Cape Poetry
|-
| Daniel Sluman || single window
|Nine Arches Press
|-
| Jack Underwood || A Year in the New Life
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Kevin Young || Stones
|Cape Poetry
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2022
| Anthony Joseph || Sonnets for Albert
|Bloomsbury|| Won||
|-
| Victoria Adukwei Bulley || Quiet
|Faber & Faber|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| Fiona Benson || Ephemeron
|Cape Poetry
|-
| Jemma Borg || Wilder
|Pavilion Poetry
|-
| Philip Gross || The Thirteenth Angel
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
| Zaffar Kunial || England's Green
|Faber & Faber
|-
| Mark Pajak || Slide
|Cape Poetry
|-
| James Conor Patterson || bandit country
|Picador Poetry
|-
| Denise Saul || The Room Between Us
| Pavilion Poetry
|-
| Yomi Sode || Manorism
|Penguin
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2023
| Jason Allen-Paisant || Self-Portrait as Othello
|Carcanet Press|| Won||
|-
| Joe Carrick-Varty || More Sky
|Carcanet Press|| rowspan="9" | Shortlisted|| rowspan="9" |
|-
| 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
|- style="background-color:lightyellow;"
! rowspan="10" | 2024
|Peter Gizzi
|Fierce Elegy
|Penguin
|Won
|
|-
|Raymond Antrobus
|Signs, Music
|Picador Poetry
|rowspan="9"|Shortlisted
|rowspan=9|
|-
|Hannah Copley
|Lapwing
|Pavilion Poetry / Liverpool University Press
|-
|Helen Farish
|The Penny Dropping
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Gustav Parker Hibbett
|High Jump as Icarus Story
|Banshee Press
|-
|Rachel Mann
|Eleanor Among the Saints
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Gboyega Odubanjo
|Adam
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Carl Phillips
|Scattered Snows, to the North
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Katrina Porteous
|Rhizodont
|Bloodaxe Books
|-
|Karen McCarthy Woolf
|Top Doll
|Dialogue Books
|- style="background-color:none;"
! rowspan="10" | 2025
|Gillian Allnutt
|lode
|Bloodaxe Books
! rowspan="10"| Shortlisted
! rowspan="10"|
|-
|Isabelle Baafi
|Chaotic Good
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Catherine-Esther Cowie
|Heirloom
|Carcanet Press
|-
|Paul Farley
|When It Rained for a Million Years
|Picador
|-
|Vona Groarke
|Infinity Pool
|Gallery Press
|-
|Sarah Howe
|Foretokens
|Chatto & Windus
|-
|Nick Makoha
|The New Carthaginians
|Penguin
|-
|Tom Paulin
|Namanlagh
|Faber & Faber
|-
|Natalie Shapero
|Stay Dead
|Out-Spoken Press
|-
|Karen Solie
|Wellwater
|Picador
|}
List of judges
- 1993 – Peter Porter, Fleur Adcock, Edna Longley, Robert Crawford and John Lucas
- 1994 – Elaine Feinstein, Ciaran Carson, Robert Crawford, John Fuller and Candia McWilliam
- 1995 – James Fenton, Maura Dooley and Liz Lochhead
- 1996 – Andrew Motion, Helen Dunmore and Ruth Padel
- 1997 – Gillian Clarke, Sean O’Brien and Hugo Williams
- 1998 – Bernard O’Donoghue, Simon Armitage and Maura Dooley
- 1999 – Blake Morrison, Selima Hill and Jamie McKendrick
- 2000 – Paul Muldoon, Glyn Maxwell and Kathleen Jamie
- 2001 – John Burnside, Helen Dunmore and Maurice Riordan
- 2002 – Michael Longley, Fred D’Aguiar and Deryn Rees-Jones
- 2003 – David Harsent, Mimi Khalvati and George Szirtes
- 2004 – Douglas Dunn, Paul Farley and Carol Rumens
- 2005 – David Constantine, Kate Clanchy and Jane Draycott
- 2006 – Sophie Hannah, Gwyneth Lewis and Sean O'Brien
- 2007 – Sujata Bhatt, W. N. Herbert and Peter Porter
- 2008 – Lavinia Greenlaw, Tobias Hill and Andrew Motion
- 2009 – Simon Armitage, Colette Bryce and Penelope Shuttle
- 2010 – Bernardine Evaristo, Anne Stevenson and Michael Symmons Roberts
- 2011 – Gillian Clarke, Stephen Knight and Dennis O'Driscoll
- 2012 – Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Longley and David Morley
- 2013 – Imtiaz Dharker, Ian Duhig and Vicki Feaver
- 2014 – Sean Borodale, Helen Dunmore and Fiona Sampson
- 2015 – Kei Miller, Pascale Petit and Ahren Warner
- 2016 – Julia Copus, Ruth Padel and Alan Gillis
- 2017 – W. N. Herbert, James Lasdun and Helen Mort
- 2018 – Clare Pollard, Sinéad Morrissey and Daljit Nagra
- 2019 – John Burnside, Sarah Howe and Nick Makoha
- 2020 – Lavinia Greenlaw, Mona Arshi and Andrew McMillan
- 2021 – Glyn Maxwell, Caroline Bird and Zaffar Kunial
- 2022 – Jean Sprackland, Hannah Lowe and Roger Robinson
- 2023 – Paul Muldoon, Sasha Dugdale and Denise Saul
- 2024 – Mimi Khalvati, Anthony Joseph and Hannah Sullivan
- 2025 – Patience Agbabi, Niall Campbell and Michael Hofmann