TS Eliot Prize for Poetry 2013: Sinéad Morrissey wins Belfast's inaugural poet laureate, Sinéad Morrissey, has won this year's TS Eliot Prize for Poetry. It is the fourth time that she has been shortlisted for the £15,000 prize, considered to be the most prestigious poetry award in Britain. Morrissey, born in County Armagh in 1972, won with her latest collection of poems, Parallax, which was also shortlisted for the rival £10,000 Forward Prize. She is the author of four previous collections. Ian Duhig, chair of the judges, said: "In a year of brilliantly themed collections, the judges were unanimous in choosing Sinéad Morrissey's Parallax as the winner. Politically, historically and personally ambitious, expressed in beautifully turned language, her book is as many-angled and any-angled as its title suggests. Duhig announced the winner at an award ceremony in the courtyard of the Wallace Collection on Monday evening. The prize, presented annually by the Poetry Book Society, was funded by TS Eliot's widow, Valerie Eliot. Since her death in 2012, it has been supported by the trustees of the TS Eliot estate. This year's shortlist included ten poets, each of whom received £1,000. Morrissey beat off strong competition from two previous winners, Anne Carson and George Szirtes, as well as Michael Symmonds Roberts, who won the 2013 Forward Prize. The full list of nominated poets and collections was as follows: Dannie Abse Speak, Old Parrot (Hutchinson) Moniza Alvi At the Time of Partition (Bloodaxe) Anne Carson Red Doc (Jonathan Cape) Sinéad Morrissey Parallax (Carcanet) Helen Mort Division Street (Chatto & Windus) Daljit Nagra The Ramayana: A Retelling (Faber) Maurice Riordan The Water Stealer (Faber) Robin Robertson Hill of Doors (Picador) Michael Symmons Roberts Drysalter (Jonathan Cape) George Szirtes Bad Machine (Bloodaxe) Helen Mort, shortlisted for her first full collection, was a surprise inclusion on the list. Born in 1985, she became the youngest ever poet in residence at the Wordsworth Trust in 2010, and is now Derbyshire's poet laureate. Last year's winner was Sharon Olds, for her collection Stag's Leap. She was the first female American poet to win the award.