It might be the award most poets only dream of winning, but this year it's British-Indian writer Bhanu Kapil's turn to bag the top accolade in the TS Eliot Prize for poetry.
Known as the most valuable award for British poetry, Kapil won for her collection of poems called How to Wash a Heart, in which she explores the dynamics between an immigrant and her white, middle-class host.
Judges described the work as "radical and arresting", "formidable" and "a really invigorating, and testing, read".
Kapil, who was born in England to Indian parents, beat nine other finalists in a shortlist that included both established and up-and-coming poets.
It is a £25,000 ($34,223) prize, which counts Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney and Carol Ann Duffy as past winners.
It is a radical and arresting collection that recalibrates what it's possible for poetry to achieve
Writer Lavinia Greenlaw, chair of the TS Eliot Prize judges, said the collection had been chosen unanimously by the panel, which also includes poets Mona Arshi and Andrew McMillan.
"It is a radical and arresting collection that recalibrates what it’s possible for poetry to achieve," said Greenlaw.
Kapil was inspired to write the book after she saw a photograph in a newspaper of a couple in California who had opened their home to a guest with a "precarious visa status", she has said in an interview with her publisher.
"What caught my attention was the tautness of the muscles around the mouths of these hosts," she said. "Perhaps they were simply nervous of being photographed. Nevertheless, the soft tissue contraction of those particular muscles are at odds [when visible] to a smile itself."
"For me, this was also a way to write about the discrepancy between being in spaces that, outwardly, present themselves as inclusive, open to outsiders or minority presences, but which, in the lived experience of inhabiting them, is excruciating," Kapil says.
Today, Kapil lives in the UK and US, and she is the author of six books, but How to Wash a Heart, which was released last year, was her first collection to be published in the UK.
The TS Eliot Prize was established in 1993 to celebrate the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and to honour its founding poet.
It is awarded each year to the author of the best new poetry collection published in the UK and Ireland.
Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion described it as "the prize most poets want to win", while the Independent newspaper has dubbed it "the world's top poetry award".
Greenlaw said of this year's shortlist: "[It] celebrated the ways in which poetry is responding to profound change, and the stylistic freedom that today’s poets have claimed."
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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