Announcing the Twenty-Two Finalists for the 2020 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships

The Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine are thrilled to announce the twenty-two finalists for the 2020 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships. 

Thank you to all who submitted applications. The five Fellowship recipients will be announced in early September.

2020 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship Finalists

Aria Aber
Noah Baldino
Isabella Borgeson
Imani Cezanne
Dorothy Chan
Leila Chatti
Chen Chen
Su Cho
Cean Gamalinda
Noor Hindi
Jackson Holbert
Luther Hughes
Cyrée Jarelle Johnson
Ashley M. Jones
Jordan Keller-Martinez
Willie Kinard III
A.D. Lauren-Abunassar
Alán Peláez López
Brayan Salinas
Darius Simpson
Emily Spencer
Khaty Xiong

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Information on This Year’s Process

Each year, we open submissions for the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships on March 1. This year, as in years past, the Poetry magazine team commissioned a small group of past contributors to read submissions and send along their top ten picks from their assigned submissions. In prior years, the five Fellows were then chosen by a small group from the Poetry editorial team, but this year we opened this step in the selection to the whole of the Poetry Foundation. Fifteen staff members from across the Foundation read the top picks to choose the finalists for this year, and they will also choose the five Fellows, to be announced in early September. 

In line with examining and reconfiguring all existing processes and policies across the Poetry Foundation, the submissions and selection processes will be more thoroughly examined and discussed before we begin accepting applications for the 2021 Fellowships. We look forward to providing detailed information about the changes to come and hearing your feedback.

Questions, comments, and concerns can be directed to [email protected].