National Book Award for Poetry
The National Book Award for Poetry is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers".[1] The panelists are five "writers who are known to be doing great work in their genre or field".[2]
The category Poetry was established in 1950 and has been awarded annually save the period 1985 to 1990.[3]
The award recognizes one book written by a US citizen and published in the US from December 1 to November 30. The National Book Foundation accepts nominations from publishers until June 15, requires mailing nominated books to the panelists by August 1, and announces five finalists in October. The winner is announced on the day of the final ceremony in November. The award is $10,000 and a bronze sculpture; other finalists get $1000, a medal, and a citation written by the panel.[4]
There were 148 nominations for the 2010 award.[5]
Winners[edit]
1950s[edit]
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | William Carlos Williams | Paterson: Book Three and Selected Poems (two books) | Winner | [6] |
1951 | Wallace Stevens | The Auroras of Autumn | Winner | |
1952 | Marianne Moore | Collected Poems | Winner | |
1953 | Archibald MacLeish | Collected Poems, 1917–1952 | Winner | |
1954 | Conrad Aiken | Collected Poems | Winner | |
1955 | Wallace Stevens | The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens | Winner | |
1956 | W. H. Auden | The Shield of Achilles | Winner | |
1957 | Richard Wilbur | Things of This World | Winner | |
1958 | Robert Penn Warren | Promises: Poems, 1954–1956 | Winner | |
1959 | Theodore Roethke | Words for the Wind: Poems of Theodore Roethke | Winner |
1960s[edit]
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Robert Lowell | Life Studies | Winner |
1961 | Randall Jarrell | The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Poems and Translations | Winner |
1962 | Alan Dugan | Poems (vol 1 of seven) | Winner |
1963 | William Stafford | Traveling Through the Dark | Winner |
1964 | John Crowe Ransom | Selected Poems | Winner |
1965 | Theodore Roethke | The Far Field (posth.) | Winner |
1966 | James Dickey | Buckdancer's Choice: Poems | Winner |
1967 | James Merrill | Nights and Days | Winner |
1968 | Robert Bly | The Light Around the Body | Winner |
1969 | John Berryman | His Toy, His Dream, His Rest | Winner |
1970s[edit]
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | Elizabeth Bishop | The Complete Poems | Winner |
1971 | Mona Van Duyn | To See, To Take: Poems | Winner |
1972 | Frank O'Hara | The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara (posth.) | Winner[a] |
Howard Moss | Selected Poems | ||
1973 | A. R. Ammons | Collected Poems, 1951–1971 | Winner |
1974 | Adrienne Rich | Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971–1972 | Winner[a] |
Allen Ginsberg | The Fall of America: Poems of These States, 1965–1971 | ||
1975 | Marilyn Hacker | Presentation Piece | Winner |
1976 | John Ashbery | Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror | Winner |
1977 | Richard Eberhart | Collected Poems, 1930–1976: including 43 new poems | Winner |
1978 | Howard Nemerov | The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov | Winner |
1979 | James Merrill | Mirabell: Books of Number | Winner |
1980s[edit]
The Poetry award and many others were eliminated from the program when it was revamped in 1984. It was restored in 1991, now for current-year publications, with a standard five finalists announced a few weeks prior to the main event.
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | Philip Levine | Ashes: Poems New and Old | Winner |
1981 | Lisel Mueller | The Need to Hold Still: Poems | Winner |
1982 | William Bronk | Life Supports: New and Collected Poems | Winner |
1983 | Galway Kinnell | Selected Poems | Winner[a] |
Charles Wright | Country Music: Selected Early Poems |
1990s[edit]
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Philip Levine | What Work Is | Winner | |
Andrew Hudgins | The Never-Ending | Finalist | ||
Linda McCarriston | Eva-Mary | Finalist | ||
Adrienne Rich | An Atlas of the Difficult World: Poems 1988–1991 | Finalist | ||
Marilyn Nelson Waniek | The Homeplace: Poems | Finalist | ||
1992 | Mary Oliver | New and Selected Poems (vol. 1 of two) | Winner | |
Hayden Carruth | Collected Shorter Poems | Finalist | ||
Louise Glück | The Wild Iris | Finalist | ||
Susan Mitchell | Rapture | Finalist | ||
Gary Snyder | No Nature | Finalist | ||
1993 | A. R. Ammons | Garbage | Winner | |
Mark Doty | My Alexandria | Finalist | ||
Margaret Gibson | The Vigil: A Poem in Four Voices | Finalist | ||
Donald Hall | The Museum of Clear Ideas | Finalist | ||
Lawrence Raab | What We Don't Know About Each Other | Finalist | ||
1994 | James Tate | Worshipful Company of Fletchers | Winner | |
Richard Howard | Like Most Revelations | Finalist | ||
David St. John | A Study for the World's Body | Finalist | ||
Heather McHugh | Hinge and Sign: Poems, 1968–1993 | Finalist | ||
Anne Porter | An Altogether Different Language | Finalist | ||
1995 | Stanley Kunitz | Passing Through: The Later Poems | Winner | |
Barbara Howes | Collected Poems, 1945–1990 | Finalist | ||
Josephine Jacobsen | In the Crevice of Time: New and Collected Poems | Finalist | ||
Donald Justice | New and Selected Poems | Finalist | ||
Gary Soto | New and Selected Poems | Finalist | ||
1996 | Hayden Carruth | Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey: Poems, 1991–1995 | Winner | |
Lucille Clifton | The Terrible Stories | Finalist | ||
Robert Hass | Sun Under Wood | Finalist | ||
Alicia Suskin Ostriker | The Crack in Everything | Finalist | ||
Charles Simic | Walking the Black Cat | Finalist | ||
1997 | William Meredith | Effort at Speech: New and Selected Poems | Winner | |
John Balaban | Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems | Finalist | ||
Frank Bidart | Desire | Finalist | ||
Sarah Lindsay | Primate Behavior | Finalist | ||
Marilyn Nelson | The Fields of Praise: New and Selected Poems | Finalist | ||
1998 | Gerald Stern | This Time: New and Selected Poems | Winner | |
B. H. Fairchild | The Art of the Lathe | Finalist | ||
Alicia Suskin Ostriker | The Little Space: Poems Selected and New, 1968–1998 | Finalist | ||
Linda Pastan | Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems 1968–1998 | Finalist | ||
Carl Phillips | From the Devotions | Finalist | ||
1999 | Ai | Vice: New and Selected Poems | Winner | [7] |
Louise Glück | Vita Nova | Finalist | ||
Clarence Major | Configurations: New and Selected Poems, 1958–1998 | Finalist | ||
Sherod Santos | The Pilot Star Elegies | Finalist | ||
C.K. Williams | Repair | Finalist |
2000s[edit]
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Lucille Clifton | Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988–2000 | Won | |
Kim Addonizio | Tell Me | Finalist | ||
Galway Kinnell | A New Selected Poems | Finalist | ||
Kenneth Koch | New Addresses: Poems | Finalist | ||
Bruce Smith | The Other Lover | Finalist | ||
2001 | Alan Dugan | Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry (vol 7 of seven) | Winner | |
Agha Shahid Ali | Rooms are Never Finished | Finalist | ||
Wanda Coleman | Mercurochrome | Finalist | ||
Cornelius Eady | Brutal Imagination | Finalist | ||
Gail Mazur | They Can’t Take That Away from Me | Finalist | ||
2002 | Ruth Stone | In the Next Galaxy | Winner | |
Harryette Mullen | Sleeping With the Dictionary | Finalist | ||
Sharon Olds | The Unswept Room | Finalist | ||
Alberto Rios | The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body | Finalist | ||
Ellen Bryant Voigt | Shadow of Heaven | Finalist | ||
2003 | C. K. Williams | The Singing | Winner | |
Carol Muske-Dukes | Sparrow | Finalist | ||
Charles Simic | The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems | Finalist | ||
Louis Simpson | The Owner of the House: New Collected Poems 1940–2001 | Finalist | ||
Kevin Young | Jelly Roll: a blues | Finalist | ||
2004 | Jean Valentine | Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003 | Winner | |
William Heyen | Shoah Train | Finalist | ||
Donald Justice | Collected Poems | Finalist | ||
Carl Phillips | The Rest of Love | Finalist | ||
Cole Swensen | Goest | Finalist | ||
2005 | W. S. Merwin | Migration: New and Selected Poems | Winner | |
John Ashbery | Where Shall I Wander: New Poems | Finalist | ||
Frank Bidart | Star Dust: Poems | Finalist | ||
Brendan Galvin | Habitat: New and Selected Poems, 1965–2005 | Finalist | ||
Vern Rutsala | The Moment’s Equation | Finalist | ||
2006 | Nathaniel Mackey | Splay Anthem | Winner | [8] |
Louise Glück | Averno | Finalist | [9] | |
H.L. Hix | Chromatic | Finalist | [9] | |
Ben Lerner | Angle of Yaw | Finalist | [9] | |
James L. McMichael | Capacity | Finalist | [9] | |
2007 | Robert Hass | Time and Materials: Poems, 1997–2005 | Winner | |
Linda Gregerson | Magnetic North | Finalist | [10] | |
David Kirby | The House on Boulevard St. | Finalist | ||
Stanley Plumly | Old Heart | Finalist | ||
Ellen Bryant Voigt | Messenger: New and Selected Poems 1976–2006 | Finalist | ||
2008 | Mark Doty | Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems | Winner | |
Frank Bidart | Watching the Spring Festival | Finalist | [11] | |
Reginald Gibbons | Creatures of a Day | Finalist | [11] | |
Richard Howard | Without Saying | Finalist | [11] | |
Patricia Smith | Blood Dazzler | Finalist | [11] | |
2009 | Keith Waldrop | Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy | Winner | |
Rae Armantrout | Versed | Finalist | [12][13] | |
Ann Lauterbach | Or to Begin Again | Finalist | [12][13] | |
Carl Phillips | Speak Low | Finalist | [12][13] | |
Lyrae van Clief-Stefanon | Open Interval | Finalist | [12][13] |
2010s[edit]
Year | Author | Title(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Terrance Hayes | Lighthead | Winner | |
Kathleen Graber | The Eternal City | Finalist | ||
James Richardson | By the Numbers | Finalist | ||
C.D. Wright | One with Others | Finalist | ||
Monica Youn | Ignatz | Finalist | ||
2011 | Nikky Finney | Head Off & Split: Poems | Winner | |
Yusef Komunyakaa | The Chameleon Couch | Finalist | [14] | |
Carl Phillips | Double Shadow | Finalist | [14] | |
Adrienne Rich | Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems: 2007-2010 | Finalist | [14] | |
Bruce Smith | Devotions | Finalist | [14] | |
2012 | David Ferry | Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations | Winner | [15][16] |
Susan Wheeler | Meme | Finalist | [17][18] | |
Cynthia Huntington | Heavenly Bodies | Finalist | [17][18] | |
Tim Seibles | Fast Animal | Finalist | [17][18] | |
Alan Shapiro | Night of the Republic | Finalist | [17][18] | |
2013 | Mary Szybist | Incarnadine | Winner | [19][20] |
Frank Bidart | Metaphysical Dog | Finalist | [21][22] | |
Lucie Brock-Broido | Stay, Illusion | Finalist | [21][22] | |
Adrian Matejka | The Big Smoke | Finalist | [21][22] | |
Matt Rasmussen | Black Aperture | Finalist | [21][22] | |
2014 | Louise Glück | Faithful and Virtuous Night | Winner | [23][24][25] |
Fanny Howe | Second Childhood | Finalist | [26] | |
Maureen N. McLane | This Blue | Finalist | [26] | |
Fred Moten | The Feel Trio | Finalist | [26] | |
Claudia Rankine | Citizen | Finalist | [26] | |
2015 | Robin Coste Lewis | Voyage of the Sable Venus | Winner | [27][28] |
Ross Gay | Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude | Finalist | [29] | |
Terrance Hayes | How to Be Drawn | Finalist | [29] | |
Ada Limón | Bright Dead Things | Finalist | [29] | |
Patrick Phillips | Elegy for a Broken Machine | Finalist | [29] | |
2016 | Daniel Borzutzky | The Performance of Becoming Human | Winner | [30][31] |
Rita Dove | Collected Poems 1974 – 2004 | Finalist | ||
Peter Gizzi | Archeophonics | Finalist | ||
Jay Hopler | The Abridged History of Rainfall | Finalist | ||
Solmaz Sharif | Look | Finalist | ||
2017 | Frank Bidart | Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016 | Winner | [32][33] |
Leslie Harrison | The Book of Endings | Finalist | [34] | |
Layli Long Soldier | WHEREAS | Finalist | [34] | |
Shane McCrae | In the Language of My Captor | Finalist | [34] | |
Danez Smith | Don't Call Us Dead | Finalist | [34] | |
2018 | Justin Phillip Reed | Indecency | Winner | [35][36][37] |
Rae Armantrout | Wobble | Finalist | [38] | |
Terrance Hayes | American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin | Finalist | ||
Diana Khoi Nguyen | Ghost Of | Finalist | ||
Jenny Xie | Eye Level | Finalist | ||
2019 | Arthur Sze | Sight Lines | Winner | [39][40] |
Jericho Brown | The Tradition | Finalist | [41] | |
Toi Derricotte | "I": New and Selected Poems | Finalist | [41] | |
Ilya Kaminsky | Deaf Republic | Finalist | [41] | |
Carmen Giménez Smith | Be Recorder | Finalist | [41] |
2020s[edit]
Year | Author | Title | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Don Mee Choi | DMZ Colony | Winner | [42][43] |
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge | A Treatise on Stars | Finalist | ||
Tommye Blount | Fantasia for the Man in Blue | Finalist | ||
Anthony Cody | Borderland Apocrypha | Finalist | ||
Natalie Diaz | Postcolonial Love Poem | Finalist | ||
2021 | Martín Espada | Floaters | Winner | [44][45][46] |
Desiree C. Bailey | What Noise Against the Cane | Finalist | [47][45] | |
Douglas Kearney | Sho | Finalist | [47][45] | |
Hoa Nguyen | A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure | Finalist | [48][47][45] | |
Jackie Wang | The Sunflower Cast A Spell To Save Us From The Void | Finalist | [47][45] | |
2022 | John Keene | Punks: New & Selected Poems | Winner | [49][50] |
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke | Look at This Blue | Finalist | [51][52] | |
Sharon Olds | Balladz | Finalist | [51][52] | |
Roger Reeves | Best Barbarian | Finalist | [51][52] | |
Jenny Xie | The Rupture Tense | Finalist | [51][52] |
Repeat winners[edit]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "History of the National Book Awards" Archived 2018-10-03 at the Wayback Machine. National Book Foundation (NBF): About Us. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ "How the National Book Awards Work" Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine. NBF: Awards. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ "National Book Award Winners: 1950 – 2009" Archived 2012-05-28 at the Wayback Machine. NBF: Awards. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ "National Book Award Selection Process" Archived 2008-06-13 at the Wayback Machine. NBF: Awards. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions" Archived 2017-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. NBF: About Us. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ "National Book Awards – 1950" Archived 2018-11-14 at the Wayback Machine. NBF. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
(With essays by Neil Baldwin and Ross Gay from the Awards 50-year print publication(?) and 60-year anniversary blog. Baldwin covers the award-sharing book: "The edition of the Selected Poems brought out in 1949 has of necessity over the past half-century been emended and expanded many times. ...") - ^ Chesterfield, Tanya (1999-11-17). "The 1999 National Book Awards Winners". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "Awards: National Book Award Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 16, 2006. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness . October 12, 2006. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 16, 2008. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d Andriani, Lynn (2009-10-14). "National Book Award Finalists Announced". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 15, 2009. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 13, 2011. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Leslie Kaufman (November 14, 2012). "Novel About Racial Injustice Wins National Book Award". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
- ^ "2012 National Book Awards Go to Erdrich, Boo, Ferry, Alexander". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
- ^ a b c d "National Book Award Finalists Announced". Shelf Awareness . October 10, 2012. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "National Book Award Finalists Announced Today". Library Journal. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
- ^ "2013 National Book Award Finalists Announced" Archived 2013-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
- ^ "2013 National Book Awards" Archived 2018-11-14 at the Wayback Machine. NBF. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
- ^ a b c d "2013 National Book Award Finalists Announced". PublishersWeekly.com. 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "Get To Know The Finalists For The 2014 National Book Award". Morning Edition. National Public Radio. October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (November 19, 2014). "National Book Award Goes to Phil Klay for His Short Story Collection". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
- ^ "Louise Glück Wins This Year's National Book Award in Poetry". Poets.org. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "2014 National Book Award Finalists Named". PublishersWeekly.com. 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "2015 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (19 November 2015). "Ta-Nehisi Coates Wins National Book Award". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 15, 2015. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "2016 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ "National Book Award Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 17, 2016. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Maher, John (2017-11-15). "Benway, Bidart, Gessen, and Ward Win 2017 National Book Awards". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "National Book Award Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 16, 2017. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d Maher, John (2017-10-04). "National Book Foundation Names 2017 NBA Finalists". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "2018 National Book Awards - Poetry". National Book Awards. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
- ^ "National Book Award Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 15, 2018. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Maher, John (2018-11-14). "Acevedo, Nunez, Reed, Stewart, and Tawada/Mitsutani Win 2018 National Book Awards". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Grady, Constance (2018-10-10). "The 2018 National Book Award finalists are in. Here's the full list". Vox. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "The 2019 National Book Awards Finalists Announced". National Book Foundation. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
- ^ "National Book Award Winners". Shelf Awareness . November 21, 2019. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Awards: National Book Award Finalists". Shelf Awareness. October 9, 2019. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "2020 National Book Awards Finalists Announced". National Book Foundation. August 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- ^ "National Book Award Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 19, 2020. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "National Book Awards 2021". National Book Foundation. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "A guide to the must-read 2021 National Book Award winners and finalists". Vox. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Leighton, Mara. "The 10 poetry books that made it onto the National Book Award longlist in 2021". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "National Book Award Finalists Announced". Shelf Awareness. October 6, 2021. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Qiao, Vicky (2021-10-06). "Ontario poet Hoa Nguyen shortlisted for $10K U.S. National Book Awards". CBC. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Stewart, Sophia (November 16, 2022). "Gunty, Keene, Perry, Schweblin, Tahir Win 2022 National Book Awards". Publishers Weekly.
- ^ Beer, Tom (2022-11-16). "Winners of the 2022 National Book Awards Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ a b c d "The National Book Award finalists for 2022, explained by reading them". Vox. November 14, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "National Book Award Finalists Announced". Shelf Awareness . October 5, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-03.