T. S. Eliot Prize 2024: Spotlight on Gboyega Odubanjo’s Adam
The T. S. Eliot Prize 2024 shortlist has been unveiled, celebrating ten exceptional collections that reflect the evolving landscape of contemporary poetry. Among these works is Gboyega Odubanjo’s Adam, a visceral and resonant exploration of identity, ancestry, and existential longing.
Odubanjo’s Adam anchors itself in themes of creation and loss, threading personal and collective narratives through richly textured language. One of its standout poems, “A Story About Water,” first appeared in The Poetry Review (Autumn 2020) and has since become emblematic of Odubanjo’s ability to weave the elemental with the metaphysical. His work continues to probe the complexities of faith, memory, and transformation, drawing readers into a dialogue that feels at once intimate and universal.
The 2024 Shortlist
The full list of shortlisted poets and their collections includes:
- Signs, Music by Raymond Antrobus
- Lapwing by Hannah Copley
- The Penny Dropping by Helen Farish
- Fierce Elegy by Peter Gizzi
- High Jump as Icarus Story by Gustav Parker Hibbett
- Eleanor Among the Saints by Rachel Mann
- Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo
- Scattered Snows, to the North by Carl Phillips
- Rhizodont by Katrina Porteous
- Top Doll by Karen McCarthy Woolf
Judges’ Reflections
Chair Mimi Khalvati, alongside Anthony Joseph and Hannah Sullivan, reviewed 187 submissions from British and Irish publishers to select this year’s shortlist. Khalvati noted, “Our shortlisted poets traverse a stunning spectrum of styles and themes—myth, sport, faith, identity, and technology—offering profound reflections on the human condition. Many collections carry a thread of elegy, confronting our turbulent times with courage and tenderness, while also delivering moments of joy, humor, and vitality.”
Celebrating Poetry
The shortlisted collections will be critiqued by the Young Critics, a project led by the Young Poets Network in collaboration with the T. S. Eliot Prize. Reviews will be shared via the Prize’s YouTube channel later this year.
The T. S. Eliot Prize 2024 Shortlist Readings are scheduled for Sunday, 12 January 2025, at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, with tickets available now. A live-stream option ensures broader access. The winner will be revealed the following evening, 13 January 2025, at the Award Ceremony.
For more information, visit tseliot.com/prize.
