SubscribeWell that was a bit of a shocker – Colm Toibin was the odds on favourite to take home the overall Costa Book Prize last night, but it went instead to Christopher Reid for his poetry collection A Scattering. Very many congratulations to him!
Although I haven’t read the collection – and indeed, I don’t read as much poetry as I perhaps should – I really am pleased to see non-prose take home a major prize like the Costa. I do think poetry gets rather maligned sometimes, and I’m as guilty as anyone, and something like this will hopefully give it a bit of a boost in the public eye. Not to mention the fact that the publisher will get some welcome publicity too.
Congratulations all round, and commissertations to the other shortlistees.
The BBC News Website has an excerpt from Reid’s winning book.
I am utterly hopeless with poetry but concur that I too am thrilled at this win because its something different. I was hoping Brooklyn would get it but you cant win ‘em all. I do also think the Costa might be my favouirte awards.