On the money

Northern Irish poet Sinead Morrissey won the TS Eliot Prize on Monday night, for her collection Parallax. I must say I'd thought Michael Symmons Roberts the likely winner, so this came as something of a surprise, but it's a pleasant one.

I haven't read the book, but I've encountered quite a lot of Morrissey's poetry in the past and have enjoyed it. It's hard to make a real judgement on what should have won, as of the 10 contenders, I've only read three so far (Michael Symmons Roberts, Dannie Abse and Helen Mort). I think either of those last two would have been a worthy winner, although I suspect it might have been seen as a sort of lifetime achievement award if it had gone to Abse.

But anyway, congratulations to Sinead Morrissey - I'll look forward to reading Parallax.