Recent Winners
92Y Unterberg Poetry Center
DISCOVERY POETRY CONTEST
Four poets won the 2020 Discovery Poetry Contest. They are Asa Drake of Ocala, Florida, Luther Hughes of Seattle, Ana Portnoy Brimmer of Luquillo, Puerto Rico, and Daniella Toosie-Watson of Middletown, New York. They each received $500, publication of their work in the Paris Review Daily, and an invitation to give a reading at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Diana Marie Delgado and Timothy Donnelly were the preliminary judges; Jericho Brown, Paisley Rekdal, and Wendy Xu were the final judges. The annual awards are given to poets who have not published a book of poems. (SEE DEADLINES)
92Y Unterberg Poetry Center, Discovery Poetry Contest, 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128. Ricardo Maldonado, Contact.
www.92y.org/poetry/discovery-contest.aspx
Academy of American Poets
WALLACE STEVENS AWARD
Nikky Finney of Columbia, South Carolina, won the 2020 Wallace Stevens Award. She received $100,000. The Academy’s board of chancellors judged. The annual award is given to a poet to “recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.” There is no application process.
ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS FELLOWSHIP
Carmen Giménez Smith of Blacksburg, Virginia, won the 2020 Academy of American Poets Fellowship. She received $25,000 and a residency at the T. S. Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Academy’s board of chancellors judged. The annual fellowship is given to an American poet for distinguished poetic achievement. There is no application process.
LENORE MARSHALL POETRY PRIZE
Hanif Abdurraqib of Columbus, Ohio, won the 2020 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for A Fortune for Your Disaster (Tin House, 2019). He received $25,000; a 10-day residency at Glen Hollow in Naples, New York; and distribution of his book to members of the Academy of American Poets. Garrett Hongo, Raquel Salas Rivera, and Tim Seibles judged. The annual award is given for a book of poetry published in the United States in the previous year. The next deadline is May 15.
RAIZISS/DE PALCHI BOOK PRIZE
Geoffrey Brock of Fayetteville, Arkansas, won the 2020 Raiziss/de Palchi Book Prize for his translation of Last Dream by Giovanni Pascoli (World Poetry Books, 2019). He received $10,000. Maria Esposito Frank, Giorgio Mobili, and Michael Palma judged. The prize is given biennially for a book of modern Italian poetry translated into English and published in the United States during the previous year. As of this writing, the next deadline has not been set.
JAMES LAUGHLIN AWARD
Chet’la Sebree of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, won the 2020 James Laughlin Award for Field Study (FSG Originals, 2021). She received $5,000, a weeklong residency at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, and distribution of her book to members of the Academy of American Poets. Rick Barot, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers judged. The annual award is given for a poet’s second collection, forthcoming in the next calendar year. The next deadline is May 15.
HAROLD MORTON LANDON TRANSLATION AWARD
Rajiv Mohabir of Boston won the 2020 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award for his translation from the Bhojpuri of Lalbihari Sharma’s I Even Regret Night: Holi Songs of Demerara (Kaya Press, 2019). He received $1,000. Daniel Borzutzky judged. The annual award is given for a book of poetry translated from any language into English and published in the United States during the previous year.
(SEE DEADLINES.)
