Today on My Poetic Side we take a look at the shortlist for this year’s TS Eliot Prize. We also have an article about the making of a film about the life of the poet and filmmaker James Broughton.

TS Eliot Prize 2019

The literary world’s biggest poetry prize will be kicking off the calendar for 2020. The prize, which is awarded for the best, new, poetry collection that has been published during the previous year in Ireland and the UK has announced its shortlist.

The shortlist, which is ten-strong, includes some new and some familiar names including the poet Sharon Olds who is a previous winner of the prize. Her place on the shortlist is secured by her 13^th poetry collection.

Other hopefuls on the list include last years Ted Hughes prize winner Jay Bernard and Fiona Benson for a collection of poetry that shows the god Zeus as a serial rapist.

In keeping with the traditions of the prize, all of the shortlisted poets will read aloud from their collections at an event that will take place this Sunday at the Southbank Centre. This year’s winner will be announced on Monday 13^th January and will receive £25,000. The other shortlisted poets will receive a cash prize of £1,500 each. All of the funds for the prize are awarded by the TS Eliot Foundation.

The panel of judges for the award are carefully selected each year and is made up of poets who are distinguished in their own right. This year the judges are Nick Makoha, Sarah Howe and John Burnside. The winner will join a long list of previous winners including Carol Ann Duffy the former UK poet laureate, Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney.

Celebrating the Exuberant Poet and Filmmaker

A longtime friend of the pre-Beat poet and filmmaker James Broughton, Stephen Silha has often had many questions about his friend’s life. He has spent much of his life thinking about what it must have been like to be friends with the likes of Pauline Kael and Allen Ginsberg.

In an effort to find the answers to come of his many questions Silha has produced a series of films and discussions that celebrate Broughton. “Big Joy Weekend” is scheduled to take place on 11^th and 12^th January. It is the latest work by Silha who was the director behind “Big Joy: The Adventure of James Broughton” a documentary film from 2012.

Silha met Broughton in 1989, when the poet was 75 years old, and the two fast became friends – he found him fascinating. He was inspired by the poet’s work, his films and his philosophy on life and began working on a biographical project that resulted in his first film.

In order to put the film together, he conducted multiple interviews speaking to the likes of the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti – a fellow Beats poet- George Lucas the director and some other significant names in the world of literature and films. In total, he conducted 37 interviews in order to get a picture of the real Broughton.