Two Young Poets Win Ruth Lilly Fellowships
$15,000 Awards Are Among the Largest to Aspiring Writers in the U.S.
CHICAGO—The Poetry Foundation has announced that two student poets—Sean Brian Bishop and Megan Grumbling—have won the 2007 Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships. Among the largest awards offered to aspiring writers in the United States, each Lilly Fellowship carries an award of $15,000 to help the recipients continue their study and writing of poetry.
Sean Bishop was born in Waterville, Maine, in 1983. He attended Hampshire College, earning his BA in literature and social theory in 2005. He lives in Houston and is currently enrolled in the MFA program at the University of Houston. His work has appeared in Poetry and The Minnesota Review.
Megan Grumbling was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1976. She earned her BA from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, in 2000, and her MA in journalism from New York University in 2003. Her poetry has recently appeared in Saranac Review, Indiana Review, Passages North, The Southern Review, and Poetry. She lives in Portland, Maine, and teaches at the University of New England and Southern Maine Community College.
In announcing the fellowship recipients, Christian Wiman, editor of Poetry, said: “The competition for this year’s Lilly Fellowships was incredibly fierce, and the two poets who emerged as winners are already writing at an extraordinarily high level. I expect readers will be hearing a lot from these two poets in the years to come.”
The Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships have been awarded annually since 1989 through a national competition. This year over 115 applications were considered. The winners can use the $15,000 grant to further their studies however they wish. To be eligible, a student must be a U.S. citizen 30 years old or younger, and must not have received an advanced degree before the end of the year in which the fellowship is given.
The judges of the competition were A.E. Stallings, Joshua Mehigan, and Christian Wiman.
The Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship program is organized and administered by the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, publisher of Poetry magazine.
About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine and one of the largest literary organizations in the world, exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit www.poetryfoundation.org.
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