The Irish poet Eavan Boland, who died earlier this year aged 75, has been shortlisted in the poetry category of the Costa Book Awards, it was announced on Tuesday night. Her most recent collection, The Historians, published last month by Carcanet, is said to be the culmination of her signature themes, exploring the ways in which the hidden, sometimes all-but-erased stories of women's lives can revise our sense of the past. Also on the shortlist is the Forward prize winner Caroline Bird, with her collection The Air Year. Two other poets make up the all-women shortlist – Rachel Long with My Darling from the Lions, and Martha Sprackland with Citadel.

The Costa poetry judges are poet Zuffar Kunial, Telegraph poetry critic Tristram Fane Saunders, and bookseller Leah Wilkins, of Five Leaves Bookshop. The Costa poetry award winner will be announced on 4 January 2021.

PHOTOGRAPH: CARCANET PRESS