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Finalists have been announced since 1980.
Winners
Clear-voiced poems that bring readers the news from 21st Century America, rich with thought, ideas and histories public and private.
A compelling collection of poems that examine human consciousness, from birth to dementia, in a voice that is by turns witty and grave, compassionate and remorseless.
A book of unflinching poems on the author’s divorce that examine love, sorrow and the limits of self-knowledge.
A collection of bold, skillful poems, taking readers into the universe and moving them to an authentic mix of joy and pain.
A body of work spanning 45 years, witty, rebellious and yet tender, a treasure trove of an iconoclastic and joyful mind.
A book striking for its wit and linguistic inventiveness, offering poems that are often little thought-bombs detonating in the mind long after the first reading.
A collection of luminous, often tender poems that focus on the profound power of memory.
This award was made possible by a special grant from The Poetry Society.
This award was made possible by a special grant from The Poetry Society.
Finalists
Finely crafted poems with a composure that cannot conceal the troubled terrain they traverse.
A collection in which the poet uses capacious intelligence and lyrical power to offer a dazzling picture of our inter-connected world.
A book of masterly poems that capture the inner experience of a man in mid-life who is troubled by mortality and the passage of time, traditional themes that are made to feel new.
An imaginative work by a commanding poet who engages the history and mythology of larger-than-life boxer Jack Johnson.
A half century of poems reflecting a creative author’s commitment to living fully and honestly and to producing straightforward work that illuminates everyday experience with startling clarity.
A powerful collection of poems that explore the trauma of the Vietnam War and the feelings that have never left many of those who fought in the conflict.
A compelling work that explores cross-cultural tensions in the world and digs deeply to identify what is essential in human experience.
An enchanting collection of poems that juggle delight, wit and endless fascination with language.
A rich, often poignant collection of poems rooted in a rural Kentucky experiencing change in its culture and landscape.
A collection of imaginative poems in which small details can accrue great power and a reader is never sure where any poem might lead.
A collection of poems remarkable for its variety of subjects, array of genres and nimble use of language.
A collection of poems, often laced with humor, that examine popular culture, the limits of the human body and the tragicomic aspects of everyday experience.
A book of lyric poems that evinces compassion for the human condition as it explores the constraints that limit the possibility of people changing the course of their lives.
A collection of poems that give rich drama to ordinary experience, deepening our sense of what it means to be human.
