Poets withdraw from the T.S. Eliot Prize

December 15, 2011 The T.S. Eliot Prize, which awards a prize of £15,000 to its winner, has seen two shortlisted poets pulling out over the last few weeks, in protest at the prize’s sponsorship by investment management firm Aurum Funds, which manages the funds of hedge funds. First Alice Oswald announced her decision to withdraw herself from the shortlist for ethical reasons, and she was followed by PIW poet John Kinsella, who explained his reasons for doing so to the Huffington Post.

The prize is run by the Poetry Book Society, which recently lost its funding from the UK Arts Council. It has now entered into a three-year sponsorship arrangement with Aurum Funds. Read T.S. Eliot Prize judge Gillian Clarke’s thoughts about the sponsorship here