The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize that was, for many years, awarded by the Poetry Book Society (UK) to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Prize was inaugurated in 1993 in celebration of the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and in honour of its founding poet, T. S. Eliot. Since its inception, the prize money was donated by Eliot's widow, Mrs Valerie Eliot and more recently it has been given by the T. S. Eliot Estate. The T. S. Eliot Foundation took over the running of the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2016, appointing as its new director Chris Holifield (formerly director of the Poetry Book Society), when the former Poetry Book Society charity had to be wound up, with its book club and company name taken over by book sales agency Inpress Ltd in Newcastle. Holifield retired at the end of June 2022 after 20 years in the post, being replaced by Mike Sims. At present, the prize money is £20,000, with each of nine runners-up receiving £1500 each, making it the United Kingdom's most valuable annual poetry competition. The Prize has been called "the most coveted award in poetry". The shortlist for the Prize is announced in October of each year, and the 10 shortlisted poets take part in the Readings at the Royal Festival Hall in London's Southbank Centre on the evening before the announcement of the Prize. Two thousand people attended the 2011 reading. List of winners 2022 – Anthony Joseph, Sonnets for Albert 2021 – Joelle Taylor, C+nto & Othered Poems 2020 – Bhanu Kapil, How to Wash a Heart 2019 – Roger Robinson, A Portable Paradise 2018 – Hannah Sullivan, Three Poems 2017 – Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds 2016 – Jacob Polley, Jackself 2015 – Sarah Howe, Loop of Jade 2014 – David Harsent, Fire Songs 2013 – Sinéad Morrissey, Parallax 2012 – Sharon Olds, Stag's Leap 2011 – John Burnside, Black Cat Bone 2010 – Derek Walcott, White Egrets 2009 – Philip Gross, The Water Table 2008 – Jen Hadfield, Nigh-No-Place 2007 – Sean O'Brien, The Drowned Book 2006 – Seamus Heaney, District and Circle 2005 – Carol Ann Duffy, Rapture 2004 – George Szirtes, Reel 2003 – Don Paterson, Landing Light 2002 – Alice Oswald, Dart 2001 –