Katy Evans-Bush

It’s that time again!
The TS Eliot Prize shortlist workshop is here

We’ll meet on Zoom,
Sat & Sun 17/18 Jan 2026
10am-1.30pm, with a break
£70

Join us

Just look at all these books!

I started running this workshop on the shortlist of the UK’s major poetry prize way back in January 2011. That’s 15 years! We used to meet in a room at the Poetry School in London. Then missed a year in the pandemic, came back raring to go on Zoom, and have never looked back. Join from wherever you are.

You don’t need to have read any of the books; I take care of all that for you! By the time we’re done you’ll have a handle on all ten of them, you’ll have discovered at least one thing you love, and we’ll have thrashed out the whole vexed question of what prizes are for, anyway. Does it really matter who wins?

And what about all those incredible books that never made it to the shortlist?

What matters is reading the books, talking about the poems, meeting new people and connecting with other members of our incredible poetry community – all of which is what happens in this workshop, fifteen years in and going strong!

We’ll be done by 1.30pm on the Sunday, in plenty of time for anyone who needs to get to the Southbank Centre for the pre-prize reading with all ten poets – the poetry event of the year for many…

And when the winner is announced on Monday night the 12th, you can just nod your head & say, ‘I knew it!’

Drop me a line to join us

“A near perfect day… Like would-be jewellers we held their poems up to the light to examine how they did it and how we might follow”

—Caroline, poet

What’s up: workshops & one-to-ones

POEM TALK

Every Thursday lunchtime we talk about a poem. Six weeks on, one week off, then it starts again! what started as a lockdown project became an essential. If you fancy a break, a bit of right-brain relief, some new people to chat to, some poetry you might not have discovered otherwise, join us!

FEEDBACK & MENTORING

Always supportive and honest! I can help you see what’s happening in your poems, what’s working and what needs work, and how you can be more in control of what happens on the page. I can help you get your work out there,

EDITING: YOUR PAMPHLET OR MANUSCRIPT

Any stage, from figuring out what poems to include to preparing a final manuscript for print. I’ve edited work for beginners and prizewinners and lots of people in between. Editing is always a conversation.

WHAT THEY SAY

.“Enthusiastic and energetic, Katy conjures magic from her workshops. Whatever your level of experience, you will get a belief in the power of close and wide reading to help you generate poems, and a zip and zing in your words.”

—Rishi, workshop member

WHAT THEY SAY

“Katy has proved quite invaluable, helping me tighten and loosen my writing, always sensitive to what can be improved, and helped me along the way to getting my poems published”

—Gary, 1-1 client

WHAT THEY SAY

Katy Evans-Bush learned her trade from the best and made them proud. There’s no surer guide through the labyrinth of poetic composition. Bag yourself some form, focus, polish and kindly encouragement.

—Joseph, journalist