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| Poet Reid wins Costa Book prize | Poet Reid wins Costa Book prize |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Poet Christopher Reid has won the 2009 Costa Book of the Year for his collection of poems A Scattering. | Poet Christopher Reid has won the 2009 Costa Book of the Year for his collection of poems A Scattering. |
| The collection is a tribute to Reid's wife, Lucinda Gane, who died in 2005, and was written during her final illness and after her death. | The collection is a tribute to Reid's wife, Lucinda Gane, who died in 2005, and was written during her final illness and after her death. |
| The judges described A Scattering as "intensely moving, compelling and honest". | The judges described A Scattering as "intensely moving, compelling and honest". |
| Reid, 60, was presented with the £30,000 award at a central London ceremony on Tuesday evening. | |
| COSTA BOOK FINALISTS Colm Toibin - Brooklyn (novel)Christopher Reid - A Scattering (poetry)Raphael Selbourne - Beauty (first novel)Graham Farmelo - The Strangest Man (biography)Patrick Ness - The Ask and the Answer (children) | COSTA BOOK FINALISTS Colm Toibin - Brooklyn (novel)Christopher Reid - A Scattering (poetry)Raphael Selbourne - Beauty (first novel)Graham Farmelo - The Strangest Man (biography)Patrick Ness - The Ask and the Answer (children) |
| Accepting his award, Reid said: "I am absolutely delighted and bewildered to be the recipient of this important literary prize. | Accepting his award, Reid said: "I am absolutely delighted and bewildered to be the recipient of this important literary prize. |
| "The book itself was difficult to write, but it has had a very happy time since it fell into the hands of my publisher." | "The book itself was difficult to write, but it has had a very happy time since it fell into the hands of my publisher." |
| Reid thanked the judges for their "generosity and kindness". | Reid thanked the judges for their "generosity and kindness". |
| It is only the sixth time a poetry book has won the award, with Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney each winning twice. | |
| Speaking to the BBC, Reid said he was "obviously delighted" to be in the same company. | |
| A Scattering includes four poetic sequences, the first written during his wife's final illness and the remaining three at intervals following her death. | |
| Reid said: "She was given a very short time to live by her doctors and therefore I was given a very short time to say something on the subject, which I tried to do in the poems at the beginning of the book. | |
| "I wanted to tell her somehow through these poems why I would be missing her when she left." | |
| 'Master work' | |
| Introducing the finalists, author Josephine Hart, who was chair of the judges, said the panel was "full of admiration" for all of the books. | Introducing the finalists, author Josephine Hart, who was chair of the judges, said the panel was "full of admiration" for all of the books. |
| But she added that the final decision was arrived at by a "substantial majority" and described the collection as a "master work". | But she added that the final decision was arrived at by a "substantial majority" and described the collection as a "master work". |
| Hart continued: "We feel that what Christopher Reid did was to take a personal tragedy and to make the emotion and the situation universal. | Hart continued: "We feel that what Christopher Reid did was to take a personal tragedy and to make the emotion and the situation universal. |
| Christopher Reid: "It's a book I would much rather not have had to write" | Christopher Reid: "It's a book I would much rather not have had to write" |
| "It is bizarrely life-enhancing because it speaks of the triumph of love before and after death." | "It is bizarrely life-enhancing because it speaks of the triumph of love before and after death." |
| She added: "It's packed with lines that are unforgettable... We all felt that this is a book we would wish everyone to read from late adolescence, 14 to 15 years old onwards. | She added: "It's packed with lines that are unforgettable... We all felt that this is a book we would wish everyone to read from late adolescence, 14 to 15 years old onwards. |
| "We regard this work as austere and beautiful and moving." | "We regard this work as austere and beautiful and moving." |
| Reid beat bookmaker's favourite Colm Toibin, who won the novel award earlier this month with Brooklyn, to take the prize. | Reid beat bookmaker's favourite Colm Toibin, who won the novel award earlier this month with Brooklyn, to take the prize. |
| The award's categories are split into novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book, with each individual winner pocketing £5,000. | The award's categories are split into novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book, with each individual winner pocketing £5,000. |
| Other contenders had included Raphael Selbourne, who won the first novel award for Beauty, the story of a young Bangladeshi woman on the run from an abusive marriage. | Other contenders had included Raphael Selbourne, who won the first novel award for Beauty, the story of a young Bangladeshi woman on the run from an abusive marriage. |
| Top awards | Top awards |
| Graham Farmelo was in the running for The Strangest Man, the book, which landed the biography title, about the life of physicist Paul Dirac. | Graham Farmelo was in the running for The Strangest Man, the book, which landed the biography title, about the life of physicist Paul Dirac. |
| Patrick Ness was up for the prize after winning the children's book award for The Ask and the Answer which the judges acclaimed as "a major achievement in the making". | Patrick Ness was up for the prize after winning the children's book award for The Ask and the Answer which the judges acclaimed as "a major achievement in the making". |
| A Scattering has also been nominated for the UK's two other top poetry awards - the Forward Poetry Prize and the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry. | A Scattering has also been nominated for the UK's two other top poetry awards - the Forward Poetry Prize and the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry. |
| Originally established in 1971 by Whitbread, Costa took over the sponsorship of the prize in 2006. | Originally established in 1971 by Whitbread, Costa took over the sponsorship of the prize in 2006. |
| Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won nine times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five times by a biography, six times by a poetry collection and once by a children's book. | Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won nine times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five times by a biography, six times by a poetry collection and once by a children's book. |