Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows 2017
BY The Editors
2017 Lilly-Rosenberg Poetry Fellows Fatimah Asghar, Sumita Chakraborty, Cortney Lamar Charleston, Roy G. Guzmán, and Emily Jungmin Yoon.
We got sent home early
& no one knew why. I think we
are at war! I yelled to my sister
knapsacks ringing
—From From “Oil”
Tell me how you entered this poem, how you even got in
here. Where my parentals come from is where I’m coming from
—From Elegy for a False Sense of Security
Spandex leggings authenticating my anaerobic
exit strategies. Crotch but a bumper sticker
in a heretofore-fleeting waterloo. Crunk repentance.
—From Queerodactyl
In my country our shamans were women
and our gods multiple until white people brought
an ecstasy of rosaries and our cities today
glow with crosses like graveyards.
—From Say Grace
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.