Jacob Polley

Who is Jacob Polley?

Jacob Polley is an English poet from Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom.

His first three books of poems, all published by Picador are The Brink, Little Gods and The Havocs. He is regarded as one of the leading talents of the new generation of British poets.

He graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in 1997.

Polley won an Eric Gregory Award, and the BBC Radio 4/Arts Council ‘First Verse’ Award, in 2002. His first book, The Brink, was a Poetry Book Society Choice, and went on to be shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys prize.

Polley was selected as one of the Next Generation Poets in 2004.

His second book, Little Gods, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.

Jacob Polley’s first novel, Talk of the Town, was published in June 2009 by Picador. The book went on to win the 2010 Somerset Maugham Award and was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.

The Havocs, his third book of poetry, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and won the 2012 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection and for the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2012.