The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award was established in 1994 by The Formalist. The award, honoring the poet Howard Nemerov (1920–1991), was an open competition for sonnets in English that drew about 3000 entries annually. Essay by three-time Nemerov Award winner Mike Juster. The award was $1000, and from 1995–2004, the winning sonnet and the eleven finalists were published inFollowing the discontinuation of The Formalist in 2004, the winning sonnet and eleven finalist poems were published in the literary magazine Measure.Measure is a literary journal founded in 2005 by Paul Bone and Rob Griffith. Two issues are published each year. See The creation of this award is associated with the "New Formalism" movement.
In the announcement of the 2017 winner and finalists, the 2017 competition was described as the "24th & final" contest.
List of winners The winners, judges, and winning sonnets from 1994–2011 are posted on a webpage of The Formalist; the subsequent winners are also listed in the table below:
+ Past Winners Year Poet Sonnet Judge 2017 Carol Frith Includes list of finalists. Dying Firethorn Dana Gioia 2016 Midge Goldberg Includes list of finalists. Tennis Practice Against the Garage Door Rachel Hadas 2015 D. R. Goodman Includes list of finalists. All the Dropped Things Gail White 2014 Marty Steyer Includes link to list of finalists. Caliban Is Not R.S. Gwynn 2013 Gail White Includes list of finalists. Tourist in India Dick Davis 2012 Gail White Includes list of finalists. Old Photographs Rhina Espaillat 2011 Robert W. Crawford Includes list of finalists. Odds Are A. M. Juster 2010 Catherine Chandler Includes list of finalists. Coming to Terms A. E. Stallings 2009 Richard Wakefield Petrarch David Middleton 2008 Stephen Scaer Sightseers Timothy Steele 2007 A. M. Juster No Frederick Turner 2006 Robert W. Crawford The Empty Chair Andrew Hudgins 2005 Marion Shore Petrarch on West 115th Street Charles Martin 2004 A. E. Stallings Hank Williams Blues Rachel Hadas 2003 Rhina Espaillat Discovery Dana Gioia 2002 Marion Shore Embarking Wyatt Prunty 2001 Deborah Warren Baggage X. J. Kennedy 2000 A. M. Juster Note from Echo W. D. Snodgrass 1999 Bob McKenty Chain Poem Wendy Cope 1998 Rhina Espaillat Contingencies John Frederick Nims 1997 Madeleine Mysko Incipient Fireworks Donald Justice 1996 Timothy Murphy The Track of the Storm Anthony Hecht 1995 A. M. Juster Moscow Zoo Mona Van Duyn 1994 Sarah Birnbaum Jo Painted Richard Wilbur
See also American poetry List of poetry awards List of literary awards
References