The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize for poetry awarded by the T. S. Eliot Foundation. For many years it was awarded by the Eliots' Poetry Book Society (UK) for "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland"^[1] in any particular year. The Prize was inaugurated in 1993 in celebration of the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and in honour of its founding poet, T. S. Eliot. Since its inception, the prize money was donated by Eliot's widow, Valerie Eliot and more recently it has been given by the T. S. Eliot Estate.

The T. S. Eliot Foundation took over the administration of the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2016, appointing as its new director Chris Holifield (formerly director of the Poetry Book Society),^[2] when the former Poetry Book Society charity had to be wound up, with its book club and company name taken over by book sales agency Inpress Ltd in Newcastle. Holifield retired at the end of June 2022 after 20 years in the post, and was replaced by Mike Sims.^[3] The winner now receives £25,000 and the ten shortlisted poets each receive £1,500, making it the United Kingdom's most valuable annual poetry competition. The Prize has been called "the most coveted award in poetry".^[4]

The shortlist for the Prize is announced in October of each year, and the 10 shortlisted poets take part in the Readings at the Royal Festival Hall in London's Southbank Centre on the evening before the announcement of the Prize.^[5] Two thousand people attended the 2011 reading.^[6]

2001 saw Canadian poet Anne Carson become the first woman to win the TS Eliot Prize.

2011 saw two shortlisted nominees, including 2002 winner Alice Oswald, withdraw their works as a protest against the sponsor.

• 1993 – Peter Porter, Fleur Adcock, Edna Longley, Robert Crawford and John Lucas
• 1994 – Elaine Feinstein, Ciaran Carson, Robert Crawford, John Fuller and Candia McWilliam
• 1995 – James Fenton, Maura Dooley and Liz Lochhead
• 1996 – Andrew Motion, Helen Dunmore and Ruth Padel
• 1997 – Gillian Clarke, Sean O’Brien and Hugo Williams
• 1998 – Bernard O’Donoghue, Simon Armitage and Maura Dooley
• 1999 – Blake Morrison, Selima Hill and Jamie McKendrick
• 2000 – Paul Muldoon, Glyn Maxwell and Kathleen Jamie
• 2001 – John Burnside, Helen Dunmore and Maurice Riordan
• 2002 – Michael Longley, Fred D’Aguiar and Deryn Rees-Jones
• 2003 – David Harsent, Mimi Khalvati and George Szirtes
• 2004 – Douglas Dunn, Paul Farley and Carol Rumens
• 2005 – David Constantine, Kate Clanchy and Jane Draycott
• 2006 – Sophie Hannah, Gwyneth Lewis and Sean O'Brien
• 2007 – Sujata Bhatt, W. N. Herbert and Peter Porter
• 2008 – Lavinia Greenlaw, Tobias Hill and Andrew Motion
• 2009 – Simon Armitage, Colette Bryce and Penelope Shuttle
• 2010 – Bernardine Evaristo, Anne Stevenson and Michael Symmons Roberts
• 2011 – Gillian Clarke, Stephen Knight and Dennis O'Driscoll
• 2012 – Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Longley and David Morley
• 2013 – Imtiaz Dharker, Ian Duhig and Vicki Feaver
• 2014 – Sean Borodale, Helen Dunmore and Fiona Sampson
• 2015 – Kei Miller, Pascale Petit and Ahren Warner
• 2016 – Julia Copus, Ruth Padel and Alan Gillis
• 2017 – W. N. Herbert, James Lasdun and Helen Mort
• 2018 – Clare Pollard, Sinéad Morrissey and Daljit Nagra
• 2019 – John Burnside, Sarah Howe and Nick Makoha
• 2020 – Lavinia Greenlaw, Mona Arshi and Andrew McMillan
• 2021 – Glyn Maxwell, Caroline Bird and Zaffar Kunial
• 2022 – Jean Sprackland, Hannah Lowe and Roger Robinson
• 2023 – Paul Muldoon, Sasha Dugdale and Denise Saul
• 2024 – Mimi Khalvati, Anthony Joseph and Hannah Sullivan

• List of British literary awards
• List of poetry awards
• List of literary awards
• English poetry
• English literature
• British literature
• List of years in literature
• List of years in poetry

• T.S. Eliot Prize website
• "The Book Club for Poetry Lovers". Poetry Book Society.