Kathleen Jamie wins Costa Poetry Award 2012

Thursday 3rd Jan 2013
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We're delighted to announce that Picador's Kathleen Jamie has won the Costa Poetry Award 2012 for her collection The Overhaul. It was described by the judges as ‘the collection that will convert you to poetry’. 

Read on for the opening poem from the collection

The Beach

Now this big westerly’s

blown itself out,

let’s drive to the storm beach.


A few brave souls

will be there already,

eyeing the driftwood,


the heaps of frayed

blue polyprop rope,

cut loose, thrown back at us –


What a species –

still working the same

curved bay, all of us


hoping for the marvellous,

all hankering for a changed life.

                                                       - Kathleen Jamie


The collection is up against the four books from the other categories at the Costa Book Awards for the Costa Book of the Year Award. The winner will be announced on 29th January 2013.

Kathleen Jamie will be reading from The Overhaul at the T.S. Eliot Prize readings on 13th January, for which she has been shortlisted along with two other Picador poets.


Read more about the award and the winners in other categories


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