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Fiona Benson (born 1978) is an English poet. Her collections have been shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2014, 2019, and 2022. Vertigo and Ghost (2019) won the Forward Prize for Poetry for Best Collection.[1]
Fiona Benson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1978 (age 45–46) Wroughton, Wiltshire, England |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of St Andrews |
| Notable works | Bright Travellers |
| Notable awards | Forward Prize (2019) |
| Spouse | James Meredith |
| Children | 2 |
Benson was born in Wroughton, England.[2] She received her Master of Letters and PhD in English from University of St Andrews, Scotland, where she wrote her dissertation on the Ophelia figure in early modern drama.[3] She lives in Thorverton, Devon with her husband James Meredith and their daughters Isla and Rose.[4]
Benson was a recipient of an Eric Gregory Award in 2006. The award is given by the Society of Authors to British poets under 30. Her work was included in Faber New Poets (2009) and her debut collection, Bright Travellers was published in 2014 by Cape Poetry.[5]
Benson was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize for her poetry collections, Bright Travellers (2014), Vertigo and Ghost (2019), and Ephemeron (2022).[6]
Ben Wilkinson, in a review of Bright Travellers for The Guardian, describes Benson as "a poet whose dark imagination mixes solemnity with lyricism, treating the poem as a kind of secular prayer."[7] Themes in Benson's work include "violence and loss, shown most vividly in her accounts of motherhood, are paired seamlessly with moments of great tenderness"[6]
The poem "Androgeus" was shortlisted for The 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. It comes from a long mythic sequence retelling the minotaur myth, which tries to reinstate Pasiphaë, the minotaur’s mother, at the centre of the story. This is included in her latest collection, Ephemeron (2022).[8]
| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | — | Eric Gregory Award | — | Won | [9] |
| — | Faber New Poets Award | — | Won | [9] | |
| 2014 | Bright Travellers | T. S. Eliot Prize | — | Shortlisted | |
| 2015 | Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize | — | Won | [10] | |
| Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize | — | Won | [9] | ||
| 2019 | Vertigo and Ghost | Forward Prizes for Poetry | collection | Won | [1] |
| T. S. Eliot Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| 2021 | "Androgeus" | Forward Prizes for Poetry | Single Poem | Shortlisted |
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