Awards
The Poetry Foundation offers annual awards that honor and celebrate the accomplishments of poets throughout various stages of their writing careers.
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Award nominations and applications are submitted through the grants and awards portal.
Poetry Foundation Awards
- AwardsView all past recipientsAwarded annually, the $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize honors a living US poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition.
2023 Recipient: Kimiko Hahn - AwardsView all past recipientsThe Poetry Foundation awards five Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships annually to support exceptional US poets between 21 and 31 years of age.
Clockwise from left: Rob Macaisa Colgate, Marissa Davis, Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras, Chandanie Somwaru, and marion eames white - AwardsView all past recipientsThe Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry is an annual award bestowed in recognition of commitment and extraordinary work in poetry and the literary arts through administration, advocacy, education, publishing, or service.
2023 Recipients: Toi Derricote and Cornelius Eady - AwardsView all past recipientsThe Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism is a $10,000 prize honoring an outstanding book-length work of criticism published in the US in the prior calendar year.
2023 Recipient: Optic Subwoof - AwardsView all past recipientsAppointed every two years, the title of Young People’s Poet Laureate (YPPL) is awarded to a poet in recognition of a career devoted to writing exceptional poetry for young readers while working to instill a lifelong love of poetry among developing readers.
2022 Recipient: Elizabeth Acevedo
View Past Awards
About Awards
Current Fellows
Honoring five outstanding young poets annually
2023 FellowBhion AchimbaBhion Achimba (they/he) grew up in rural southeastern Nigeria and came to the US as a Scholar...
2023 FellowRoda AvelarRoda Avelar (she/they) is a trans woman poet from Fresno, California. She earned an MFA in...
2023 FellowAriana BensonAriana Benson (she/they) is a southern Black poet born in Norfolk, Virginia. Their debut collection...
2023 FellowChrysanthemumChrysanthemum (she/her) is a poet, a performance artist, and a public historian. She is the...
2023 FellowWillie Lee Kinard IIIPoet, designer, and musician Willie Lee Kinard III (he/they) earned a BFA from the University...
Other Ways We Fund Poetry
The grants program supports nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, including the territories, that have a core commitment to poetry and the literary arts.
Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships are awarded annually to support exceptional US poets between 21 and 31 years of age.
Poetry does not charge fees to submit and it compensates all contributors for work it publishes.
Poetry awards prizes annually for work published in the magazine during the preceding year.