So Jen Hadfield wins the T.S. Eliot prize with her second collection Nigh-No-Place. Not bad for a Shetland-based, down-to-earth sounding poet whose previous jobs include working in a fish factory and being an occasional shop assistant!I bought the collection just before Christmas and have only dipped in and out of it so I can't say much about it but what I can say is that what I've read so far is fresh, energetic and fun. I could imagine a lot of non-poetry-reading people as well as poetry-reading people enjoying it.
The sad news is that a Scottish poet short-listed for the T.S. Eliot prize, Mick Imlah, died today, aged 52. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease just over a year ago.
4 comments:
You're right about the non-poetry people. My husband who never reads poetry (except mine out of a sense of duty) sat with his head buried in Nigh-No-Place in a hospital waiting room yesterday.
Heard about the lady winning the prize, good on her, also read about the death of previous winner, tragic.
I'm off to find some of her poetry.
From the reviews I've read Nigh-No-Place is even better than her first collection... must be good!!
Devastating news about Mick Imlah, especially for anyone who hadn't known about his illness. I learned of his death over at Eyewear.
"except mine out of a sense of duty" - lol, I know that feeling well!
hi mcguire, the more I read of Hadfield the more I like her. She seems to be a genuinely really nice person and a very talented poet, good on her.
hi dave, I haven't read her first collection but I think I'll be looking out for it at some point.
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