‘Fossil fish’ collection makes poetry prize shortlist
Poet Katrina Porteous is up for the prestigious TS Eliot Prize, awarded annually for the best new poetry collection published in the UK and Ireland.
Her fourth collection, Rhizodont, is one of two of this year’s 10 shortlisted collections published by Bloodaxe Books, based in Hexham.
The other is The Penny Dropping by Helen Farish who lives in Cumbria.
The winner, judged by established poets and worth £25,000, will be announced on January 13 at the Wallace Collection in London.
The previous evening there will be readings from the shortlisted collections at the Royal Festival Hall in an event hosted by Ian McMillan which can be livestreamed.
Katrina, who lives in Beadnell, has said the title of her collection was inspired by the fossil of a long extinct fish.
“The rhizodont belonged to a family called the Sarcopterygians which made the transition from water to land and all four-limbed creatures are descended from them.”
It was a metaphor for transition, she said, a theme running through all the poems in her collection.
Mimi Khalvati, chair of the judges, said: “Throughout these collections runs a strong strain of elegy, responding to our dark times with testaments of loss and grief.
“There is also humour, intimacy, joy and energy – poems to make you well up, to inspire you to write and, most of all, to invite you to read.”
Meanwhile, at Durham Book Festival, which hosted this year’s Forward Prizes for Poetry, women emerged triumphant in all categories and Bloodaxe Books had more reason to celebrate.
The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, worth £5,000 and published by Bloodaxe, went to Marjorie Lotfi, who lives in Scotland, for The Wrong Person to Ask.
Other winners were: Victoria Chang for with my back to the world, published by Corsair (Best Collection, £10,000); Cindy Juyoung Ok for Ward of One (Best Single Poem – Written, £1,000); and Leyla Josephine for Dear John Berger (Jerwood Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed, £1,000).
Craig Charles, chair of judges, said: “Collectively, the winners, the shortlists and all the commended poems are a tribute to how vibrant poetry is today.”
Durham Book Festival continues over the weekend. Visit the website for programme details.