Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows 2018
BY The Editors
2018 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows Natalie Scenters-Zapico, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Safia Elhillo, Paul Tran, and sam sax.
I know better than to leave the house
without my good dress, my good knife
—From Like Judith Slaying Holofernes, by Paul Tran
[what if i will not die]
[what will govern me then]
—From Girls That Never Die, by Safia Elhillo
Though I’d like to be,
it’s impossible to be prepared for everything.
–From Uptown, Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Hieu Minh Nguyen
My macho says: Your skin is the color of milk, you glow between sheets. ¿Who gives more light: me, or the luna lunera? Too much milk makes you sick — drink, drink, cascabelera.
–From In the Culture of Now, by Natalie Scenters-Zapico
my family who survived
what i cannot write, never said goodbye, only, i’ll see you again soon.
the stories we carried are the only country i’ll pledge my sword to.
–From So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye, by sam sax
Established in 1989 by Ruth Lilly to encourage the further writing and study of poetry, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship program has dramatically expanded since its inception. Until 1995, university writing programs nationwide each nominated one student poet for a single fellowship; from 1996 until 2007, two fellowships were awarded. In 2008, the competition was opened to all U.S. poets between 21 and 31 years of age, and the number of fellowships increased to five, totaling $75,000. In 2013, the Poetry Foundation received a generous gift from the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Fund to create the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships, which increased the fellowship amount from $15,000 to $25,800.
To start reading the poems in the portfolio, click here.
The editorial staff of the Poetry Foundation. See the Poetry Foundation staff list and editorial team masthead.