The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is a major 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, United States was initiated by Ed Ochester and developed by Frederick A. Hetzel. The prize is named for a former director of the Press. It has both recognized and supported emerging poets, which has allowed their work to become available to readers around the world.
The award is open to any poet writing in English who has not had a full-length book published previously. Entry requires the payment of a significant fee. A "full-length book" of poetry is defined as a volume of 48 or more pages published in an edition of 500 or more copies. The prize carries a cash award of $5,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press in the Pitt Poetry Series. The winner is announced in the fall of each year.
Winners
1981 — Kathy Callaway, Heart of the Garfish 1982 — Lawrence Joseph, Shouting at No One 1983 — Kate Daniels, The White Wave 1984 — Arthur Smith, Elegy on Independence Day 1985 — Liz Rosenberg, The Fire Music 1986 — Robley Wilson, Kingdoms of the Ordinary 1987 — David Rivard, Torque 1988 — Maxine Scates, Toluca Street 1989 — Nancy Vieira Couto, The Face in the Water 1990 — Debra Allbery, Walking Distance 1991 — Julia Kasdorf, Sleeping Preacher 1992 — Hunt Hawkins, The Domestic Life 1993 — Natasha Sajé, Red Under the Skin 1994 — Jan Beatty, Mad River 1995 — Sandy Solomon, Pears, Lake, Sun 1996 — Helen Conkling, Red Peony Night 1997 — Richard Blanco, City of a Hundred Fires 1998 — Shara McCallum, The Water Between Us 1999 — Daisy Fried, She Didn't Mean To Do It 2000 — Quan Barry, Asylum 2001 — Gabriel Gudding, A Defense of Poetry 2002 — Shao Wei, Pulling a Dragon's Teeth 2003 — David Shumate, High Water Mark 2004 — Aaron Smith, Blue on Blue Ground 2005 — Rick Hilles, Brother Salvage: Poems 2006 — Nancy Krygowski, Velocity 2007 — Michael McGriff, Dismantling the Hills 2008 — Cheryl Dumesnil, In Praise of Falling 2009 — Bobby C. Rogers, Paper Anniversary 2010 — Glenn Shaheen, Predatory 2011 — Dore Kiesselbach, Salt Pier 2012 — Kasey Jueds, Keeper 2013 — Sarah Rose Nordgren, Best Bones 2014 — Nate Marshall, Wild Hundreds 2015 — Miriam Bird Greenberg, In the Volcano's Mouth 2016 — Erin Adair-Hodges, Let's All Die Happy 2017 — Tiana Clark, I Can't Talk About Trees Without the Blood 2018 — Ryan Black, The Tenant of Fire 2019 — Eleanor Boudreau, Earnest, Earnest? 2020 — Laura Kolbe, Little Pharma 2021 — Anuradha Bhowmik, Brown Girl Chromatography 2022 - 2023 — Ryler Dustin, Trailer Park Psalms 2024 — Nathan Xavier Osorio, Querida 2025 — Bobby Elliot, The Same Man
Notes
See also American poetry List of poetry awards List of literary awards List of years in poetry List of years in literature
References
"Past Winners Of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize", University of Pittsburgh Press
External links The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize Homepage