The Brittingham Prize in Poetry is a major

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. M ...

for a book of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

chosen from an open competition. The prize, established in 1985, is sponsored by the English Department at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

and is selected by a nationally recognized poet, The winner is published by the

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and ...

in its Poetry Series. Each winning poet receives $2,500 ($1,000 cash prize and $1,500 honorarium for a public reading of the work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison). The winner is announced in February each year. The prize is named for Thomas E. Brittingham and is made possible by a grant from his foundation. A $28.00 non-refundable reading fee must accompany each manuscript,

Winners

*1985:

Jim Daniels James Raymond Daniels (born 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American poet and writer. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, the writer Kristin Kovacic. Life and work Daniels was on the faculty of the creative writing program at Carnegie Mello ...

, ''Places/Everyone'' *1986: Patricia Dobler, ''Talking To Strangers''. 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 ...

*1987: David Kirby, ''Saving the Young Men of Vienna'' *1988: Lisa Zeidner, ''Pocket Sundial'' *1989: Stefanie Marlis, ''Slow Joy'' *1990:

Judith Vollmer Judith Vollmer (born 1951 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American poet and editor. She teaches privately, and in The Drew University MFA Program in Poetry & Poetry in Translation; and is Emerita Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh/ ...

, ''Level Green'' *1991: Renée Ashley, ''Salt'' *1992:

Tony Hoagland Anthony Dey Hoagland (November 19, 1953 – October 23, 2018) was an American poet. His poetry collection, ''What Narcissism Means to Me'' (2003), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His other honors included two grant ...

, ''Sweet Ruin'' *1993: Stephanie Strickland, ''The Red Virgin: A Poem of Simone Weil'' *1994: Lisa Lewis, ''The Unbeliever'' *1995: Lynn Powell, ''Old and New Testaments'' *1996: Juanita Brunk, ''Brief Landing on the Earth's Surface'' *1997:

Olena Kalytiak Davis Olena Kalytiak Davis (born September 16, 1963) is a Ukrainian-American poet. Davis is the author of five poetry collections, her most recent being ''Late Summer Ode''. Her collection ''The Poem She Didn't Write And Other Poems'' (2014, Copper Ca ...

, ''And Her Soul Out of Nothing'' *1998:

Suzanne Paola Susanne Antonetta is the pen name of Suzanne Paola (born September 29, 1956, in Georgia), an American poet and author who is most widely known for her book ''Body Toxic: An Environmental Memoir''. In 2001, ''Body Toxic'' was named by the '' New ...

, ''Bardo'' *1999: Frank X. Gaspar, ''A Field Guide to the Heavens'' *2000:

Greg Rappleye Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name * Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canad ...

, ''A Path Between Houses'' *2001:

Robin Behn Robin Behn (born 1958) is an American poet, and professor at University of Alabama and Vermont College of Fine Arts. She grew up in Barrington, Illinois. She graduated from Oberlin College, the University of Missouri, and University of Iowa. ...

, ''Horizon Note'' *2002:

Anna George Meek Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

, ''Acts of Contortion'' *2003:

Brian Teare Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word m ...

, ''The Room Where I Was Born''. Judge:

Kelly Cherry Kelly Cherry (December 21, 1940 – March 18, 2022) was a novelist, poet, essayist, professor, and literary critic John Brehm John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, ''Sea of Faith'' *2005:

Susanna Childress Susanna may refer to: People * Susanna (Book of Daniel), a portion of the Book of Daniel and its protagonist * Susanna (disciple), a disciple of Jesus * Susanna (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) Fi ...

, ''Jagged with Love''. 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 ...

*2007: Betsy Andrews, ''New Jersey''. Judge:

Linda Gregerson Linda Gregerson (born August 5, 1950) is an American poet and member of faculty at the University of Michigan. In 2014, she was named as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Life Linda Gregerson received a B.A. from Oberlin College in ...

*2008: Philip Pardi, ''Meditations on Rising and Falling'' *2009:

Angela Sorby Angela Sorby is an American poet, professor, and literary scholar. Biography She was born in Seattle, Washington and teaches at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her main teaching areas are American literature and creative writing and ...

, ''Bird Skin Coat''. Judge:

Marilyn Nelson Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetr ...

*2010: Jennifer Boyden, ''The Mouths of Grazing Things''. Judge:

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most o ...

*2011: Alison Stine, ''Wait''. Judge:

Cornelius Eady Cornelius Eady (born 1954) is an American writer focusing largely on matters of race and society. His poetry often centers on jazz and blues, family life, violence, and societal problems stemming from questions of race and class. His poetry is o ...

*2012: Jazzy Danziger, ''Darkroom''. Judge: Jean Valentine *2013: Greg Wrenn, ''Centaur''. Judge:

Terrance Hayes Terrance Hayes (born November 18, 1971) is an American poet and educator who has published seven poetry collections. His 2010 collection, ''Lighthead'', won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2010. In September 2014, he was one of 21 recipient ...

*2014: Joanne Diaz, ''My Favorite Tyrants''. Judge:

Naomi Shihab Nye Naomi Shihab Nye ( ar, نعومي شهاب ناي; born March 12, 1952) is an American poet, editor, songwriter, and novelist. Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, she began composing her first poetry at the age of six. In tot ...

*2015: Christina Stoddard, ''Hive'' *2016: Jennifer Whitaker, ''The Blue Hour'' *2017: Nick Lantz, ''You, Beast'' *2018: Max Garland, ''The Word We Used for It'' *2019: D. M. Aderibigbe, ''How the End First Showed'' *2020: Molly Spencer, ''If the House'' *2021: Diane Kerr, ''Perigee'' *2022: Daniel Khalastchi, ''American Parables'' {{div col end

External links

The Brittingham Prize in Poetry Homepage

American poetry awards Awards established in 1985 1985 establishments in the United States

Winners

See also

External links