Jo Shapcott's poetry collection Of Mutability, written after her
treatment for breast cancer, was the surprise winner of the £35,000
(US$55,362) Costa book of the year award, besting Edmund de Waal's
memoir The Hare With the Amber Eyes, the "firm favorite in the literary world--and among the bookies," the Guardian reported.
Chair of judges Andrew Neil said "a clear majority" of the jurors voted for Of Mutability and praised it as "very special and unusual and uplifting.... so accessible, and the subject matter was so relevant that if any poetry book could capture the spirit of life in 2011, this would be it."
The Costa book of the year shortlist also included category winners The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (novel), Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (children's book) and Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai (first novel).
Chair of judges Andrew Neil said "a clear majority" of the jurors voted for Of Mutability and praised it as "very special and unusual and uplifting.... so accessible, and the subject matter was so relevant that if any poetry book could capture the spirit of life in 2011, this would be it."
The Costa book of the year shortlist also included category winners The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (novel), Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (children's book) and Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai (first novel).