Kinsella Withdraws from T. S. Eliot Prize
John Kinsella has withdrawn from the 2011 T. S. Eliot Prize shortlist due to ethical concerns over sponsorship. The prestigious award, offered by the UK Poetry Book Society, is being sponsored for the first time by hedge funds manager Aurum. (The new arrangement follows the loss of funding from the UK Arts Council).
Kinsella received information on the fund from fellow prize-nominee Alice Oswald. He then released a statement withdrawing his collection Armour from the shortlist. Kinsella said: ‘I regret that I must do this at a particularly difficult time for the Poetry Book Society but the business of Aurum does not sit with my personal politics and ethics’.
Oswald has also withdrawn from the shortlist, leaving eight contenders for the 2011 prize. The winner will be announced in London on 16 January. For further information on the T.S. Eliot Prize, visit the Poetry Book Society’s website. And for Kinsella's view on the potential for poets to bring about 'positive social, ethical and political change', see his article 'Keeping Poetry outside the Comfort Zone', posted on the New Statesman website on 13 December 2011.