The Drowned Book is a collection of poetry written by Sean O'Brien, a British poet, critic, novelist, broadcaster, and playwright.

[2] The book was reprinted in 2015, with an introduction from poet and novelist Helen Dunmore, and a revision that gave it 16 more pages and a new cover.

[3] The Drowned Book is a collection of poems based around Dante's Inferno, but the author decided to re-write them themed around a darker than usual form of water that is unclean and filled with emotions, and its part in the Northern English history.

According to Sarah Crown, the author refers to the Victorian era and how the humans visioned themselves as being in control of the water element using different tools.

The T. S. Eliot Prize is the highest award given to poetry written by an Irish or English poet.