2010 Prizes for Contributors to Poetry Announced

CHICAGO — The Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine are proud to announce the winners of nine awards for contributions to Poetry over the past year. The prizes are awarded for poems and prose published during the past 12 months, from October 2009 to September 2010.

the levinson prize, presented annually since 1914 through the generosity of the late Salmon O. Levinson and his family, for the sum of $500, is awarded to Ron Silliman for his poem in the June 2010 issue. Silliman is the author, co-author, and/or editor of 38 books, including The Alphabet (University of Alabama Press, 2008) and The Age of Huts (compleat) (University of California Press, 2007). He previously appeared in Poetry in January 1969.

the bess hokin prize, established in 1948 through the generosity of our late friend and guarantor, Mrs. David Hokin, for the sum of $1000, is awarded to Valzhyna Mort for her poems in the December 2009 issue. Born in Minsk, Belarus, Mort’s American debut was Factory of Tears (Copper Canyon Press, 2008). She is currently a writer-in-residence at the University of Baltimore.

the frederick bock prize, founded in 1981 by friends in memory of the former associate editor of Poetry, for the sum of $500, is awarded to Paul Hoover for his poems in the June 2010 issue. Hoover’s most recent publications are Sonnet 56 (Les Figues Press, 2009); Beyond the Court Gate: Selected Poems of Nguyen Trai (Counterpath Press, 2010), edited and translated with Nguyen Do; and Selected Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin (Omnidawn Publishing, 2008), winner of the PEN-USA Translation Award, edited and translated with Maxine Chernoff.

the j. howard and barbara m.j. wood prize, endowed since 1994, in the sum of $5000, is awarded to Dorothea Grossman for her poems in the March 2010 issue. Grossman’s 2003 CD, Call And Response (pfMentum) features the poet in live performance with improvising trombonist Michael Vlatkovich.

the john frederick nims memorial prize for translation, established in 1999 by Bonnie Larkin Nims, trustees of the Poetry Foundation, and friends of the late poet, translator, and editor, in the amount of $500, is awarded to Laura Leichum for her translations of Gisela Kraft in the March 2010 issue. Leichum is a poet and translator living in Washington, DC. She recently completed her MFA in creative writing at the University of Maryland.

the friends of literature prize, established in 2002 by the Friends of Literature, in the amount of $500, is awarded to Spencer Reece for his poems in the February and April 2010 issues. Reece is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal church. This past summer he worked as a seminarian in the orphanage of Our Little Roses in Honduras. His poem “The Clerk’s Tale” is currently being made into a short film by the actor James Franco.

the editors prize for feature article, established in 2005, in the amount of $1000, is awarded to Durs Grünbein for his essay in the February 2010 issue (translated by Michael Hofmann). Grünbein is the author of six volumes of poetry and a collection of essays.

the editors prize for reviewing, established in 2004, in the amount of $1000, is awarded to Abigail Deutsch for her reviews in the May and September 2010 issues. Deutsch is a former Poetry Foundation writing fellow. Her criticism appears in the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, n+1, Bookforum, and other publications.

the editors prize for best letter, established in 2009, in the amount of $250, is awarded to Daniel Brett Clendening for his letter in the April 2010 issue.

The prizes are organized and administered by the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, publisher of Poetry magazine.

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About Poetry
Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. Monroe’s “Open Door” policy, set forth in Volume 1 of the magazine, remains the most succinct statement of Poetry’s mission: to print the best poetry written today, in whatever style, genre, or approach. The magazine established its reputation early by publishing the first important poems of T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, H.D., William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg, and other now-classic authors. In succeeding decades it has presented—often for the first time—works by virtually every major contemporary poet.

About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It 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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