The ''Pitt Poetry Series'', published by the

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, USA, is one of the largest and best known lists of contemporary American poetry.

History

The Pitt Poetry Series was established in 1968 by press director Frederick A. Hetzel and press editor Paul Zimmer. The Series received initial funding through the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust and its president Theodore L. Hazlett, via the agency of the

International Poetry Forum The International Poetry Forum (IPF) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1966 by Samuel John Hazo. The IPF has hosted poetry readings by over 800 poets and performers at the Carnegie Lecture Hall, Heinz Hall, and other public venues in Pittsbu ...

and its director, Samuel Hazo. From the mid-1970s to the present many volumes have been supported by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and the

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania's communities through the arts. This mission is paired wit ...

. During its entire history the Pitt Poetry Series has had several general editors: Paul Zimmer (1968-1978), Ed Ochester (1979-2021),

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 ...

(2021 to the present).Terrance Hayes named Interim Series Editor of the Pitt Poetry Series; Nancy Krygowski and Jeffrey McDaniel to Co-edit. University of Pittsburgh, 15 December 2021
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Poets

Poets in the Pitt Series include

Sharon Olds Sharon Olds (born November 12, 1942) is an American poet. Olds won the first San Francisco Poetry Center Award in 1980, the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award, and the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

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 ...

Ted Kooser Theodore J. Kooser (born 25 April 1939) is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate selec ...

, Lawrence Joseph, Jon Anderson, Richard Shelton,

Larry Levis Larry Patrick Levis (September 30, 1946 – May 8, 1996) was an American poet who published five award-winning books of poetry during his lifetime. Since his death, three more volumes of poetry, along with a book of essays, have been published to ...

, Robert Louthan, Jim Daniels,

Michael S. Harper Michael Steven Harper (March 18, 1938 – May 7, 2016) was an American poet and English professor at Brown University, who was the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island from 1988 to 1993. His poetry was influenced by jazz and history. Among the infl ...

Tomas Tranströmer Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long Swedish winters, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. Tranströmer's ...

, John Balaban,

Norman Dubie Norman Dubie (April 10, 1945--February 20, 2023) was an American poet from Barre, VT. Life He was the author of twenty-eight collections of poetry. Dubie's work often assumes historical personae and has been included in ''The New Yorker'', ''Ploug ...

, Archibald MacLeish,

Odysseus Elytis Odysseas Elytis ( el, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudellis, el, Οδυσσέας Αλεπουδέλλης; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as th ...

Gary Soto Gary Anthony Soto (born April 12, 1952) is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist. Life and career Soto was born to Mexican-American parents Manuel (1910–1957) and Angie Soto (1924-). In his youth, he worked in the fields of the San Joaqui ...

Stuart Dybek Stuart Dybek (born April 10, 1942) is an American writer of fiction and poetry. Biography Dybek, a second-generation Polish American, was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Chicago's Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s ...

Kathleen Norris Kathleen Thompson Norris (July 16, 1880 – January 18, 1966) was an American novelist and newspaper columnist. She was one of the most widely read and highest paid female writers in the United States for nearly fifty years, from 1911 to 1959. N ...

Alicia Ostriker Alicia Suskin Ostriker (born November 11, 1937) is an American poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry.Powell C.S. (1994) ''Profile: Jeremiah and Alicia Ostriker – A Marriage of Science and Art'', Scientific American 271(3), 28-3 ...

Toi Derricotte Toi Derricotte (pronounced ''DARE-ah-cot'' ) (born April 12, 1941) is an American poet. She is the author of six poetry collections and a literary memoir. She has won numerous literary awards, including the 2020 Frost Medal for distinguished lifet ...

, and David Wojahn.

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize

The Pitt Series annually awards a prize for a first book, the

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is a major United States, American literary award for a first full-length book of poetry in the English language. This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Penn ...

External links

The Pitt Poetry Series Homepage
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References

University of Pittsburgh {{Poetry-stub