The Irish poet, Derek Mahon, has been shortlisted for the Foward Prize which, at £10,000, weighs in as Britain's most valuable poetry prize. The prize is for the best collection and Mahon's Yellow Book, published by Gallery Press, is the contender. Ted Hughes has been shortlisted for the second consecutive year, this time for his smash-hit collection, Birthday Letters, his first poems about his dead wife, Sylvia Plath, since her death by suicide. The other shortlisted poets are Anne Carson, Gwyneth Lewis and Glyn Maxwell.