Oxford poet David Constantine has been shortlisted for the 2002 Whitbread Poetry Award.
The Queen's College Fellow is among four poets up for the poetry category award for his collection of poems Something for the Ghosts.
There were 69 entries for the £5,000 prize, which celebrates the most enjoyable British writings of last year.
Something for the Ghosts is inspired by Homer's suggestion that before ghosts speak they need a drink of blood.
The poems summon up the dead and give them a voice, exploring themes of love, death, grief and memory.
The book is published by independent poetry specialist Bloodaxe Books. Its founder Neil Astley has also been shortlisted for a Whitbread award in the first novel category.
Dr Constantine has published six books of poems and four translation works and is translating Goethe's Faust for Penguin Classics.
The winner will be announced in London on January 28.
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