Forward prize winner Claudia Rankine is a contender for this year’s £20,000 TS Eliot prize with her collection Citizen: An American Lyric, included on a shortlist that also includes an American and two Australians, the Poetry Book Society has announced.    

The shortlist is: Mark Doty, Deep Lane (Cape Poetry); Tracey Herd, Not in this World (Bloodaxe); Selima Hill, Jutland (Bloodaxe); Sarah Howe, Loop of Jade (Chatto & Windus); Tim Liardet, The World Before Snow (Carcanet); Les Murray, Waiting for the Past (Carcanet); Sean O'Brien, The Beautiful Librarians (Picador); Don Paterson, 40 Sonnets (Faber); Rebecca Perry, Beauty/Beauty (Bloodaxe; Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric (Penguin).

Judges Pascale Petit (chair), Kei Miller and Ahren Warner unanimously selected the shortlist from a record 142 books submitted by publishers. Petit said: "This is a fantastic year for poetry, with the highest amount of entries submitted in the history of the prize, and an exceptional number of outstanding collections, including many dazzling debuts. This made our task of choosing the shortlist tricky - many that didn't make it are books we love. But we were unanimous about our final list, the books my distinguished fellow judges and I picked all awed and excited us with their ambition, verve and technical mastery."

The TS Eliot Prize readings will take place on Sunday 10 January 2016 at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall. The shortlist readings are the largest annual poetry event in the UK and will be hosted once again by Ian McMillan. Tickets are now on sale from Southbank Centre's ticket office on 0844 847 9910 or online.

The winner of the 2015 prize will be announced at the TS Eliot Prize award ceremony on Monday 11 January 2016, where the winning poet will be presented with a cheque for £20,000, donated by the TS Eliot estate.

Background: Claudia Rankine wins £10,000 Forward prize