Hadfield on Today

The Today programme's interview with Jen Hadfield is here, along with all the recordings they've done of the other shortlisted writers. Worth a listen. She sounds a touch tired. Good on her!

Seeing the shortlist again just emphasises how stunning a success this is for her. Not just for her, but for the younger poetry generation(s). Somehow having the faces there gives it all the more impact. There's almost something of a Dr Who moment to it, not only because Jen Hadfield is the youngest TS Eliot prizewinner ever, but because of how young she looks next to everyone else. (She's only three or so years younger than me, but somehow it feels like she younger still.)

There's certainly a sense of excitement around the UK poetry world -- or at least the corners I frequent, virtual and otherwise -- about this award. A sense of something genuinely fresh happening. Todd Swift says it's the next best thing to an Obama moment, which feels accurate, overblown and very slightly churlish all in one to me.

Here are some links to other bloggers' perspectives: Katy Evans-Bush, Rob Mackenzie, Matt Merritt (I'll add to this if and as I spot any more).

The Nearly No Has It!

Jings, as my dad might say, Jen Hadfield has won the TS Eliot! Andrew Motion describes her as "a remarkably original poet near the beginning of what is obviously going to be a distinguished career", an assessment with which I wouldn't quibble*. Nigh-No-Place is certainly an interesting, stimulating, rich book. The prize must be an enormous boost to Jen Hadfield, given the company of winners she now joins.

*Quibble is such a fine word, don't you think? Only, it sets me in mind of that scene from Blackadder Goes Forth in which our eponymous antihero prentends to be mad in an attempt to escape the trenches. Wubble! as much of my generation is wont to exclaim randomly.