Sharon Olds was announced the winner of the TS Eliot Poetry Prize for her series of poems that addressed the issue of divorce and the pain that comes with it along with the slow journey to recovery.

Sharon Olds' "Stag's Leap" won her approximately $24,000 as she took home this year's TS Eliot Poetry Prize. The series of poems are about divorce and "the slow, painful, incremental creep of recovery."

"This was the book of her career. There is a grace and chivalry in her grief that marks her out as being a world-class poet. I always say that poetry is the music of being human, and in this book she is really singing. Her journey from grief to healing is so beautifully executed," poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, chair of the final judging panel, said about the book in a report published by The Guardian.

Other poets that were shortlisted for the award included Jorie Graham, and Britons Kathleen Jamie, Deryn Rees-Jones, Julia Copus and Gillian Clarke. "It was a really strong shortlist, with so much talent and grace," said Duffy, "and it was particularly strong in women. We were particularly pleased to have six fantastic books by women."

Duffy also stated that she was happy to see how talented the poets had become at performing their poetry to a large audience. "Ten years ago I think they would have been muttering into their jacket sleeves," she said.

Olds, who lives in New York and was born in San Francisco in 1942, received a check for $24,000 donated posthumously by Valerie Eliot, who died last year. The shortlisted poets each received $1,600.

The prize is run by the Poetry Book Society and supported by the TS Eliot estate and Aurum, an investment management company.