The shortlist has been released for the inaugural PEN Heaney Prize, which recognizes a single volume of poetry by one author, published in the U.K. or Ireland, "of outstanding literary merit that engages with the impact of cultural or political events on human conditions or relationships." The award is a partnership between English PEN, Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann, and the estate of Seamus Heaney. The winner will be named December 2. This year's shortlisted titles are:
ISDAL by Susannah Dickey
The Coming Thing by Martina Evans
Hyena! by Fran Lock
Blood Feather by Patrick McGuinness
We Play Here by Dawn Watson
A Tower Built Downwards by Yang Lian, translated by Brian Holton