Jacob Polley has won the 2016 TS Eliot prize with Jackself. This is a collection described by the judges as “a firework of a book”.
The loosely autobiographical poems use the “Jack” of nursery rhymes. It then harnesses a local legend to tell the story of a childhood in rural Cumbria.
Polley emerged as winner of the UK’s richest poetry prize at a ceremony on 16th Jan 2017 evening at the Wallace Collection gallery in London.
The book was chosen from a 10-strong shortlist including the winner of the 2015 Forward prize, Vahni Capildeo, and previous TS Eliot prize winner Alice Oswald.
It is third time lucky for the Carlisle born-poet, who was first shortlisted for his debut collection The Brink in 2003. Then again, he was shortlisted with The Havocs in 2012.
Born in 1975, Polley was among 20 to be named the Next Generation of best British poets by the Poetry Book Society in 2004 on the strength of his first collection.
He has also written a novel, Talk of the Town, which won the 2010 Somerset Maugham award, and collaborated with director Ian Fenton on a short film, Keeping House.
He teaches at Newcastle University.
Polley is the 23rd winner of the prize, which carries a purse of £20,000.
It was founded by TS Eliot’s widow Valerie in 1993 and is now run by the TS Eliot Foundation.
