Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not mentioned poetry. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published during the preceding calendar year.

Before the establishment of the award, the 1918 and 1919 Pulitzer cycles included three Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards (called at the time the Columbia University Poetry Prize) for poetry books funded by "a special grant from The Poetry Society." See Special Pulitzers for Letters.

Harriet Monroe, founding publisher and long-time editor of Poetry magazine, wrote in an editorial (Apr.–Sept., 1922), "The award of a Pulitzer Prize of one thousand dollars to the Collected Poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson is a most agreeable surprise, as this is the first Pulitzer Prize ever granted to a poet. Four years ago, when the Poetry Society of America gave its first annual five hundred dollars to Sara Teasdale's Love Songs, the award, being made in conjunction with the Pulitzer prizes, was falsely attributed to the same origin."

Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.

Winners

In its first 92 years to 2013, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry was awarded 92 times. Two were given in 2008, none in 1946. Robert Frost won the prize four times and several others won it more than once (below).

+Pulitzer Special Prizes for Poetry, 1918 and 1919YearPoetTitle1918Love Songs 1919Cornhuskers1919The Old Road to Paradise

1920s–1970s +Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 1922–1979YearPoetTitleRef.1922Collected Poems1923"," "A Few Figs from Thistles," and "Eight Sonnets"1924New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes19251926What's O'Clock1927Fiddler's Farewell1928Tristram1929John Brown's Body1930Selected Poems1931Collected Poems19321933Conquistador1934Collected Verse1935Bright Ambush1936Strange Holiness19371938Cold Morning Sky1939Selected Poems1940Collected Poems1941Sunderland Capture194219431944Western Star1945V-Letter and Other Poems1946No award given1947Lord Weary's Castle19481949Terror and Decorum1950Annie Allen1951Complete Poems1952Collected Poems1953Collected Poems 1917-195219541955Collected Poems1956Poems: North & South – A Cold Spring1957Things of This World1958Promises: Poems 1954-19561959Selected Poems 1928-19581960Heart's Needle1961Times Three: Selected Verse From Three Decades1962Poems1963Pictures from Brueghel1964At the End of the Open Road196577 Dream Songs1966Selected Poems1967Live or Die19681969Of Being Numerous1970Untitled Subjects19711972Collected Poems1973Up Country19741975Turtle Island1976Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror1977Divine Comedies1978Collected Poems1979Now and Then

1980s +Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 1980–1989YearPoetTitleResultRef.1980Selected PoemsWinnerSelected PoemsFinalistGoshawk, AntelopeFinalist1981WinnerFinalistSelected PoemsFinalist1982WinnerDream FlightsFinalistFinalist1983Selected PoemsWinnerMonolithos, Poems 1962 and 1982FinalistCountry Music, Selected Early PoemsFinalist1984American PrimitiveWinnerWeather-Fear: New and Selected PoemsFinalistCollected Poems, 1930-1982Finalist1985YinWinnerGround WorkFinalistFinalist1986WinnerSaints and StrangersFinalistSelected Poems, 1963-1983Finalist1987Thomas and BeulahWinnerFinalistUnending BluesFinalist1988Partial Accounts: New and Selected PoemsWinnerGood Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 and Next: New PoemsFinalistFlesh and BloodFinalist1989New and Collected PoemsWinnerFinalistFinalist

1990s +Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 1990–1999YearPoetTitleResultRef.1990WinnerTime's PowerFinalistSelected and Last PoemsFinalist1991 Near ChangesWinnerFinalistLeaving Another KingdomFinalist1992 Selected PoemsWinnerSelected PoemsFinalistFinalist1993WinnerHotel LautreamontFinalistSelected Poems 1946-1985Finalist1994 Neon Vernacular: New and Selected PoemsWinnerBright ExistenceFinalistFinalist1995WinnerCosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992FinalistOn the Great Atlantic Rainway: Selected Poems 1950-1988 and One TrainFinalist1996WinnerNew and Selected PoemsFinalistChickamaugaFinalist1997 Alive Together: New and Selected PoemsWinnerFinalistFinalist1998 Black ZodiacWinnerDesireFinalistFinalist1999 Blizzard of OneWinnerMysteries of Small HousesFinalistGoing FastFinalist

2000s +Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 2000–2009YearPoetTitleResultRef.2000RepairWinnerElegy for the Southern DrawlFinalistMidnight Salvage: Poems 1995-1998Finalist2001Different HoursWinnerPursuit of a WoundFinalistFinalist2002Practical GodsWinnerFinalistFinalist2003Moy Sand and GravelWinnerMusic Like DirtFinalistHazmatFinalist2004Walking to Martha's VineyardWinnerMiddle EarthFinalistEyeshotFinalist2005Delights & ShadowsWinnerSearch Party: Collected PoemsFinalistFinalist2006Late WifeWinnerAmerican SublimeFinalistElegy on Toy PianoFinalist2007Native GuardWinnerFinalistInterrogation Palace: New & Selected Poems 1982-2004Finalist2008Time and MaterialsWinnerFailureWinnerMessenger: New and Selected Poems, 1976-2006Finalist2009WinnerWatching the Spring FestivalFinalistWhat Love Comes To: New & Selected PoemsFinalist

2010s +Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 2010–2019YearPoetTitleResultRef.2010VersedWinnerTrystFinalistInseminating the ElephantFinalist2011WinnerFinalistBreak the GlassFinalist2012Life on MarsWinnerCore Samples from the WorldFinalistHow LongFinalist2013Stag's LeapWinnerCollected PoemsFinalistFinalist20143 SectionsWinnerFinalistFinalist2015DigestWinnerReel to ReelFinalistCompass RoseFinalist2016Ozone JournalWinnerFour-Legged GirlFinalistAlive: New and Selected PoemsFinalist2017OlioWinnerXXFinalistCollected Poems: 1950-2012Finalist2018Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016Winnersemiautomatic,FinalistIncendiary ArtFinalist2019Be WithWinnerfeeldFinalistLikeFinalist

2020s +Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 2020–presentYearPoetTitleResultRef.2020WinnerOnly as the Day Is Long: New and Selected PoemsFinalistDunceFinalist2021Postcolonial Love PoemWinnerA Treatise on StarsFinalistIn the Lateness of the WorldFinalist2022frank: sonnetsWinnerRefractive Africa: Ballet of the ForgottenFinalistYellow RainFinalist2023Then the War: and Selected Poems, 2007–2020WinnerStill LifeFinalistBlood SnowFinalist2024Tripas: PoemsWinnerTo 2040FinalistInformation Desk: An EpicFinalist2025New and Selected PoemsWinnerAn Authentic LifeFinalistBluff: PoemsFinalist2026Ars PoeticasWinnerI Imagine I Been Science Fiction AlwaysFinalistThe Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected PoemsFinalist

Multiple wins and nominations The following individuals received two or more Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry (The 1918 and 1919 Special Prizes are included): WinsPoetYears4Robert Frost1924, 1931, 1937, 19433Edwin Arlington Robinson1922, 1925, 19282Stephen Vincent Benét1929, 1944Robert Lowell1947, 1974Archibald MacLeish1933, 1953William S. Merwin1971, 2009Carl Sandburg1919, 1951Robert Penn Warren1958, 1979Richard Wilbur1957, 1989 The following individuals received two or more nominations:

Bolded years are years that the poet won NominationsPoetYears5Charles Wright1982, 1983, 1985, 1996, 19984Frank Bidart1998, 2003, 2009, 2018Robert Frost1924, 1931, 1937, 1943Adrienne Rich1990, 1992, 2000, 20173Edwin Arlington Robinson1922, 1925, 1928Charles Simic1986, 1987, 19902John Ashbery1976, 1993Stephen Vincent Benét1929, 1944Forrest Gander2012, 2019Jack Gilbert1983, 2013Louise Glück1993, 2002Anthony Hecht1968, 1991Richard Hugo1980, 1981Donald Justice1980, 1996Robert Lowell1947, 1974Archibald MacLeish1933, 1953James Merril1977, 1993William S. Merwin1971, 2009Carl Sandburg1919, 1951Diane Seuss2016, 2022Mark Strand1981, 1999Dave Smith1980, 1982Patricia Smith2018, 2026Robert Penn Warren1958, 1979Richard Wilbur1957, 1989C.K. Williams1988, 1998Franz Wright2002, 2004 Robert Frost won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times from 1924 to 1943. Edwin Arlington Robinson won three prizes during the 1920s and several people, all male, have won two.

Carl Sandburg won one of the special prizes for his poetry in 1919 and won the Poetry Pulitzer in 1951.

Only five women have had multiple nominations: Adrienne Rich with 4, and Louise Glück, Jorie Graham, Diane Seuss and Patricia Smith with 2 each.

Notes

See also

American poetry List of poetry awards

References

External links