The Akron Poetry Prize is an annual contest held by The

University of Akron Press The University of Akron Press is a nonprofit university press that is a part of The University of Akron. Founded in 1988, the Press is currently directed by Jon Miller and is a member of Association of University Presses. The University of Akro ...

. The competition is open to all poets writing in English. The winning poet receives an honorarium of $1,000 and publication of his or her book in the

Akron Series in Poetry The Akron Series in Poetry, published by The University of Akron Press was founded "to bring to the public writers who speak in original and compelling voices." In addition to publishing three collections of poetry every year, The Akron Series in P ...

. The final selection is made by a nationally prominent poet. The final judge for 2017 was

Oliver de la Paz Oliver de la Paz is an American poet and educator. He is the author of four collections of poetry, including ''Requiem for the Orchard'' ( University of Akron Press, 2010), winner of the Akron Prize for Poetry. His honors include a 2005 New York Fo ...

. Other manuscripts may also be considered for publication by Series Editor Mary Biddinger. Past editor's choice selections have included books by John Gallaher, David Dodd Lee, and Sarah Perrier.

Winners

Source. *1995: Susan Yuzna, ''Her Slender Dress'', Judge: Charles Wright *1996: Clare Rossini, ''Winter Morning with Crow'', Judge:

Donald Justice Donald Rodney Justice (August 12, 1925 – August 6, 2004) was an American teacher of writing and poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1980. In summing up Justice's career, David Orr wrote, "In most ways, Justice was no different from a ...

*1997: Jeanne E. Clark, ''Ohio Blue Tips'', Judge: Alice Fulton *1998: Beckian Fritz Goldberg, ''Never Be the Horse'', Judge:

Thomas Lux Thomas Lux (December 10, 1946 – February 5, 2017) was an American poet who held the Margaret T. and Henry C. Bourne, Jr. Chair in Poetry at the Georgia Institute of Technology and ran Georgia Tech's "Poetry @ Tech" program. He wrote fourtee ...

*1999: Dennis Hinrichsen, ''Detail from the Garden of Earthly Delights'', Judge:

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for ''Ne ...

*2000: John Minczeski, ''Circle Routes'', Judge:

Mary Oliver Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary ...

*2001:

George Bilgere George Bilgere (born 1951) is an American poet. Bilgere grew up in Riverside, California, and earned his BA at the University of California, Riverside. He received his MA in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis and earned a ...

, ''The Good Kiss,'' Judge:

Billy Collins William James Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York (retired, 2016). Collins ...

*2002: Roger Mitchell, ''Delicate Bait'', Judge:

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; born May 9, 1938), known as Charles Simic, is a Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the ''Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for ''The World Doesn't ...

*2003: Sharmila Voorakkara, ''Fire Wheel,'' Judge:

Maxine Kumin Maxine Kumin (June 6, 1925 – February 6, 2014) was an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981–1982. Biography Early years Maxine Kumin was born Maxine Winokur on June ...

*2004: Vern Rutsala, ''How We Spent Our Time,'' Judge:

Robert Wrigley Robert Wrigley (born 1951 in East St. Louis, Illinois) is an American poet and educator. Biography In 1971 Wrigley was inducted into the army, filing for discharge as a conscientious objector. He received his M.F.A. in Poetry from the Universi ...

*2005: Ashley Capps, ''Mistaking the Sea for Green Fields,'' Judge:

Gerald Stern Gerald Daniel Stern (February 22, 1925 – October 27, 2022) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. The author of twenty collections of poetry and four books of essays, he taught literature and creative writing at Temple University, Indi ...

*2006: Alison Pelegrin, ''Big Muddy River of Stars,'' Judge:

B. H. Fairchild B.H. Fairchild (born 1942) is an American poet and former college professor. His most recent book is ''An Ordinary Life'' (W.W. Norton, 2023), and his poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines including ''The New Yorker'', ''The Pari ...

*2007: Brian Brodeur, ''Other Latitudes'', Judge: Stephen Dunn *2008: Rachel Dilworth, ''The Wild Rose Asylum: Poems of the Magdalen Laundries of Ireland'', Judge:

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the positi ...

*2009:

, ''Requiem for the Orchard'', Judge:

Martín Espada Martín Espada (born 1957) is a Puerto Rican-American poet, and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he teaches poetry. Puerto Rico has frequently been featured as a theme in his poems. Life and career Espada was born ...

*2010: Joshua Harmon, ''Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie'', Judge:

G.C. Waldrep G. C. Waldrep (born George Calvin Waldrep III; 1968) is an American poet and historian. Biography Waldrep was born in South Boston, Virginia. He earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees in history at Harvard University and Duke University, resp ...

*2011: Emily Rosko, ''Prop Rockery'', Judge: Natasha Sajé *2012: Seth Abramson, ''Thievery'', Judge:

Dara Wier Dara Barrois/Dixon (née Dara Wier) (born 1949) is an American poet and the author of ''Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina'' (Wave Books, 2022). Other titles include ''In the Still of the Night'' (Wave Books, 2017), ''You Good Thing'' (Wave Books, 2014) ...

*2013: John Repp, ''Fat Jersey Blues'', Judge: David Kirby *2014: Philip Metres, ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', Judge:

Maxine Chernoff Maxine Chernoff (born 1952) is an American novelist, writer, poet, academic and literary magazine editor. Biography She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and attended the University of Illinois at Chicago. Chernoff is a professor and ...

*2015: Sandra Simonds, ''Further Problems with Pleasure'', Judge:

Carmen Giménez Smith ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Op� ...

*2016: Aimée Baker, ''Doe'', Judge: Allison Joseph *2017: Tyler Mills, ''Hawk Parable'', Judge:

*2018: Kimberly Quiogue Andrews, ''A Brief History of Fruit'', Judge:

Diane Seuss Diane Seuss (born 1956) is an American poet and educator. Her book '' frank: sonnets'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2022. She was born in Michigan City, Indiana and grew up in Michi ...

*2019: Sean Shearer, "Red Lemons", Judge: Victoria Chang *2020: Aimee Seu, ''Velvet Hounds'', Judge:

Philip Metres Philip Metres is an American writer (poet, translator, scholar, and essayist). His poetry books include ''Shrapnel Maps'', ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', and ''Sand Opera''. He has published poems, essays, and reviews in literary journals and mag ...

*2021: Carrie Oeding, "If I Could Give You a Line", Judge: Erika Meitner *2022: Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, "Something About Living", Judge: Adrian Matejka

References

{{Reflist

External links

University of Akron Press

Akron Series in Poetry

Akron Poetry Prize Submission Guidelines

University of Akron
American poetry awards