‘Fierce and funny’ poet finds right angle on life to win top prize - Times Online

He is one of the leading poets of his generation, a wordsmith who is no stranger to winning prizes. Last night Sean O’Brien picked up another award for his mantelpiece – the prestigious T. S. Eliot Prize.

O’Brien, 55, who believes that “a good poem reintroduces you to the world at a slightly unexpected angle”, won the £15,000 prize with his collection The Drowned Book, which judges described as “fierce, funny and deeply melancholy”.

The poet, Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University, joins the Nobel poet Seamus Heaney and the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes as a winner of the prize, described by Andrew Motion, the current Poet Laureate, as the honour “most poets want to win”.

‘Fierce and funny’ poet finds right angle on life to win top prize - Times Online