Academy of American Poets Prizes

The Academy of American Poets has just announced its annual series of poetry prizes. This year, the organization has awarded over $200,000 to poets at various stages of their careers.

I'm delighted to see that Carolyn Forché has won a major award. I was one of about ten poets who attended a workshop facilitated by Carolyn at the Cork Poetry Festival earlier this year and found her a gracious and most engaged and effective communicator. She also did an outstanding reading at the festival.

Some of the awards:
Wallace Stevens Award: $100,000 for outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry: 2013 Recipient: Philip Levine

Academy of American Poets Fellowship: $25,000 for distinguished poetic achievement: 2013 Recipient:  Carolyn Forché

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: $25,000 for the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous year: 2013 Recipient: Patricia Smith's Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (Coffee House Press, 2012)