University & College Poetry Prizes

Established in 1955, the University and College Poetry Prize program began with ten schools. Today, the Academy of American Poets sponsors over two hundred annual poetry prizes at colleges and universities across the U.S, and has awarded cash prizes to nearly ten thousand student poets since the program's inception. The recognition winning student poets receive provides important validation. As one student poet, Emily, shared, "As a young poet the prize not only made me feel as if my work had something of value, it made me feel connected with the broader poetic community. It increased my confidence in my writing and encouraged me to continue working at my craft."

• History
• Establishing a Prize
• Prize Eligibility
• Contest Procedures
• Past Winners
• Participating Colleges & Universities
• Materials for Coordinators
• Contact Information

History

Many of our most esteemed poets won their first recognition through an Academy of American Poets College Prize, including Diane Ackerman, Toi Derricotte, Mark Doty, Alice Fulton, Tess Gallagher, Louise Glück, Allen Grossman, Jorie Graham, Kimiko Hahn, Joy Harjo, Robert Hass, Li-Young Lee, Brad Leithauser, J. D. McClatchy, Heather McHugh, Gregory Orr, Robert Pinsky, Sylvia Plath, Mark Rudman, Mary Jo Salter, Gjertrud Schnackenberg, George Starbuck, Mark Strand, Ocean Vuong, and Charles Wright. 

Establishing a Prize 

The majority of the active University and College Poetry Prizes are endowed in perpetuity.

New U.S. schools are admitted into the program only with a $5,000 endowment contribution, which allows a cash prize of $100 to be awarded each year in perpetuity, enables the Academy of American Poets to provide a year-long membership to the winning student, and assists with the administrative costs of the program. We encourage anyone wishing to endow a college prize to contact the Awards Coordinator before selecting a school. We want to ensure the school's ability to annually award the prize. Additionally, some of our oldest prizes do not yet have endowments, and we would very much like to see them secured.

A prize may be named by the donor or donors, and all contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

Donors receive copies of their schools' winning poems each year, as well as a lifetime subscription to American Poets, the Academy's biannual journal. 

Prize Eligibility 

Each participating school determines whether to make its prize open to undergraduates, graduate students, or both, and sets restrictions on submission length, deadline, and number of poems. No restrictions may be made regarding theme or style. Only registered students of a given participating school are eligible for the prize offered through that institution. If you are a student and have already determined that your school hosts an Academy prize, but do not know whom to contact for guidelines, please write to Nikay Paredes, Senior Programs Manager, for details. Be sure to include the name of the school.

Contest Procedures 

Fall

A faculty member at each participating school, usually in the English department or writing program, works to coordinate the contest with the Academy to ensure that it is properly conducted each year. The prize coordinator serves as a liaison with the Academy, selecting judges and controlling such matters as the contest deadline, eligibility (a contest may be open to undergraduates, graduate students, or both), the number of poems to be submitted by each student, and local publicity.

Spring

The Academy supplies each coordinator with a form for reporting the contest results. The coordinator is required to provide contact information for the winner and data about the contest administration, as well as copies of each winning poem.

Each school awards $100 to a sole winner. In addition, one student may be selected for honorable mention.

The Academy issues prize checks and letters of congratulation to the winners, and also sends letters of congratulation to honorable mentions. All winners are announced in the Academy's Annual Report.

For questions, please contact Nikay Paredes, Senior Programs Manager.

Past Winners

2019 University & College Poetry Prizes
2018 University & College Poetry Prizes
2017 University & College Poetry Prizes
2016 University & College Poetry Prizes
2015 University & College Poetry Prizes

Participating Colleges & Universities 

Agnes Scott College 
Prize Name: Janef Preston Poetry Prize
Founded: 1976
Donor: Agnes Scott College
2020 Prizewinner: Sophia Elzie, "Niobe"

University of Alabama
Prize Name: Hill-Kohn Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: University of Alabama
2020 Prizewinner: Jiaming Tang, "Come Closer"

Amherst College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1959
Donor: Trustees of Amherst College
2020 Prizewinner: Kiera Alventosa, "Arbol"

Aquinas College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2001
Donor: Mrs. Linda Nemec Foster
2020 Prizewinner: Lukas Isenga, "Dans les tranchées du langage (In Language's Trenches)"

Arizona State University 
Prize Name: Katherine C. Turner Prize
Founded: 1994
Donor: Ms. Katharine C. Turner
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded

University of Arizona 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: University of Arizona
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Arkansas
Prize Name: C.D. Wright/Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2019
Donor: Geffrey Davis
2020 Prizewinner: Katherine Davis, "Cycles"
 
Auburn University 
Prize Name: Robert Hughes Mount Jr. Prize in Poetry
Founded: 1984
Donor: Mrs. Frances Mayes
2020 Prizewinner: Kerri Green, "Here"
 
Augsburg University 
Prize Name: John R. Mitchell Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Mrs. Jeanette Mitchell
2020 Prizewinner: Terrence Shambley Jr., "How to Love an Alcoholic in Two Parts, Ending with a Drunk Stumbling Down Maryland Avenue"
 
Bard College 
Prize Name: The Flow Chart Foundation/Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2002
Donor: David Kermani, The Flow Chart Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Miriam Anastasi, "Deer Poem"
 
Baylor University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1987
Donor: Beall Poetry Festival
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Beloit College 
Prize Name: Beloit Poetry Journal Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: Ms. Marion Stocking
2020 Prizewinner: Benjamin Katz, "Desires of Unknown Origins"
 
Bennington College
Prize Name: The Green Prize for Poetry
Founded: 2006
Donor: Kelly Green & Forrest MacGregor
2020 Prizewinner: Delilah Silberman, "Tempered Clavier"
 
Bergen Community College 
Prize Name: The Steven W. Chung Poetry Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: Steven W. Chung
2020 Prizewinner: Layla A. Williams, "Mid-Summer Moonrises"
 
Boston University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1980
Donor: Boston University Creative Writing Program
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Bowdoin College 
Prize Name: The Academy of American Poets Colette Inez Poetry Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: Mr. Jack Miller
2020 Prizewinner: Zoe Wilson, "For M.O."
 
Bradley University 
Prize Name: Sipple Poetry Prize
Founded: 1986
Donor: Bradley University
2020 Prizewinner: Lisa Nelson Raabe, "Every Night"
 
Brandeis University 
Prize Name: The Ramon Feliciano Poetry Prize
Founded: 2002
Donor: Marian McDonald
2020 Prizewinner: Cayenn Landau, "mother’s worst ex as seabird"
 
Brigham Young University 
Prize Name: Ethel Lowry Handley Poetry Prize
Founded: 2001
Donor: Ethel Lowry Handley
2020 Prizewinner: Alixa Brobbey, "KanJam" (undergraduate) and Lincoln Ballif, "When You Asked Me If I Think We're Ready for Children" (graduate)
 
Brooklyn College, CUNY 
Prize Name: Burton A. Goldberg Poetry Prize
Founded: 1987
Donor: Mr. Burton Goldberg
2020 Prizewinner: Quentin Felton, "Lessons on Confinement"
 
Brown University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2008
Donor: Mr. & Mrs. Leander McCormick-Goodhart
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Bryn Mawr College
Prize Name: Prize in Memory of Marie Bullock
Founded: 1957
Donor: Mrs. Peter McCormick
2020 Prizewinner: Elena Asofsky, "Denial Lullaby Group Text"
 
California State University, Fresno (undergraduate) 
Prize Name: Larry Levis Memorial Prize
Founded: 1997
Donor: The Friends of Larry Levis
2020 Prizewinner: Nohemi Samudio Gamis, "Afterlife"
 
California State University, Fresno (graduate) 
Prize Name: Ernesto Trejo Memorial Prize
Founded: 1982
Donor: The Friends of Ernesto Trejo
2020 Prizewinner: Mariah Bosch, "Double Sonnet, Suspended"
 
California State University, Los Angeles 
Prize Name: Henri Coulette Memorial Award
Founded: 1979
Donor: California State University, Los Angeles
2020 Prizewinner: Michael A. Reyes, "Aubade"
 
California State University, Northridge 
Prize Name: George Dillon Memorial Award
Founded: 1968
Donor: California State University, Northridge
2020 Prizewinner: Annabelle Bonebrake, "The Ranch House"
 
University of California, Berkeley 
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1963
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Max Kaisler, "TABLEAU VIVANT"
 
University of California, Davis 
Prize Name: Celeste Turner Wright Poetry Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: Prof. Celeste Turner Wright
2020 Prizewinner: Meredith Herndon, "On Monday There Were Consequences"
 
University of California, Irvine 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1969
Donor: Mr. Walter J. Thomson
2020 Prizewinner: Cassandra Leone, "Spinach Lasagna"
 
University of California, Los Angeles
Prize Name: Fred and Edith Herman Memorial Prize
Founded: 1963
Donor: Ms. Joan LaBombard
2020 Prizewinner: Aileen Carey, "Man's Best Friend"
 
California Polytechnic State University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: California Polytechnic State University
2020 Prizewinner: Caleb Nichols, "Ken"
 
Calvin College
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2009
Donor: Calvin College
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Carnegie Mellon University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1977
Donor: Carnegie Mellon University
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Central Michigan University
Prize Name: Eric Torgersen Poetry Prize
Founded: 2010
Donor: Phillip Sterling
2020 Prizewinner: Emily Bober, "I Told Them That You Were Not a Bird"
 
Central Pennsylvania College 
Prize Name: Geraldine G. Britcher Poetry Prize
Founded: 2009
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Centre College 
Prize Name: Paul Cantrell Poetry Prize
Founded: 2000
Donor: Mr. Phillip Sterling
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Chatham University
Prize Name: The Laurie Mansell Reich Poetry Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: Laurie and Henry Reich
2020 Prizewinner: Alexis Draut, "Henry County"
 
University of Cincinnati (undergraduate)
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1999
Donor: The George Elliston Poetry Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Lila Baumann, "If Mothers Were Flowers"
 
University of Cincinnati (graduate)
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1999
Donor: The George Elliston Poetry Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Renee Branum, "Glow and Afterglow"
 
The City College of San Francisco 
Prize Name: The Felicia Farr Lemon Poetry Prize
Founded: 1982
Donor: Mrs. Felicia Farr Lemmon
2020 Prizewinner: Jaime Luna, "Renaissance Walk"
 
Cleveland State University 
Prize Name: Alberta Turner Poetry Prize
Founded: 2008
Donor: Cleveland State University
2020 Prizewinner: Zach Peckham, "Safe For Work"
 
Colorado State University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1997
Donor: Colorado State University Faculty & Administration
2020 Prizewinner: Jess Turner, "My Family Left the House in the Woods"
 
Columbia College Chicago 
Prize Name: Eileen Lannan Poetry Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Lily Someson "portrait of house with visitor"
 
Columbia University (undergraduate) 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: Anonymous
2020 Prizewinner: Cara Maines, "Eurydice"
 
Columbia University (graduate) 
Prize Name: Bennett Poetry Prize
Founded: 1959
Donor: The New York Times Advertising Department
2020 Prizewinner: Robiny Jamerson, "The Stringing of the Bow"
 
Connecticut College 
Prize Name: Charles B. Palmer Poetry Award
Founded: 1979
Donor: Connecticut College
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Cooper Union 
Prize Name: Elizabeth Kray Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: Cooper Union
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Cornell College 
Prize Name: Prize in Memory of Clyde and Jewell Bothwell Tull
Founded: 1990
Donor: Ms. Alice Louise Haug
2020 Prizewinner: Charlie Kelley-Pegg, "Helium"
 
Cornell University
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Litowitz Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Creighton University 
Prize Name: Oscar M. Macelliao Poetry Prize
Founded: 1989
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Caleb Jones, "Dust"
 
Dartmouth College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: Dartmouth College
2020 Prizewinner: James King, "Our Respective Squares"
 
University of Delaware 
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Michael Gregory, "Every Hair is Numbered"
 
University of Denver 
Prize Name: Edward M. Lannan Poetry Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Dickinson College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Dickinson College
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Drew University
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2006
Donor: Susan Vartanian Barba
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Duke University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: The Biddle Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Daniela Stephanou, "Maria"
 
Elizabethtown College
Prize Name: The Raymond and Mausolene Stouffer Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Emerson College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2003
Donor: Emerson College
2020 Prizewinner: Lauren Licona, "lineage ending in erasure" (undergraduate) and Livia Meneghin, "knotted" (graduate)
 
Emory University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: The Friends of Creative Writing
2020 Prizewinner: Nicole Sadek, "Hushpuppies"
 
Florida International University 
Prize Name: Christopher F. Kelly Award for Poetry
Founded: 1987
Donor: Mr. John Bond
2020 Prizewinner: Freesia McKee, "Sometimes I Imagine the Back Wall of This Room is Rolled Open to the Night’s Solitude Like an Alley Garage with The Door Cranked Up"
 
Florida State University (undergraduate) 
Prize Name: John MacKay Shaw Award
Founded: 1984
Donor: Florida State University
2020 Prizewinner: Nicholas Holt, "Half of a Pizza in the Nuclear Apocalypse"
 
Florida State University (graduate) 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1982
Donor: Florida State University
2020 Prizewinner: Diamond Forde, "The Fourth Book of Alice Called Family Tree 2:1, A Census of Daughters"
 
Fordham University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: Fordham University
2020 Prizewinner: Patrick Raneses, "Pondlight"
 
Franklin & Marshall College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: Mr. and Mrs. C. Hunter Boll
2020 Prizewinner: Kimberly Brandolisio, "Self-Portrait as Baby Albatrosses"
 
George Mason University 
Prize Name: The Joseph A. Lohman III Poetry Prize
Founded: 2003
Donor: Ms. Judith V. Lelchook
2020 Prizewinner: Eli V., "Polymorphism"
 
George Washington University 
Prize Name: A. E. Claeyssens, Jr. Poetry Prize
Founded: 1990
Donor: George Washington University
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Georgetown University 
Prize Name: Ora Mary Pelham Poetry Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Georgia College
Prize Name: Frankye Davis Mayes Prize
Founded: 2000
Donor: Mrs. Frances Mayes
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Georgia State University
Prize Name: The Robert V. Morea III Poetry Prize
Founded: 2018
Donor: Dr. Katherine Kincer
Winner: Caroline Crew, "Another Year of Blue"
 
Gettysburg College 
Prize Name: Marion Zulauf Prize
Founded: 1987
Donor: Mr. Sander Zulauf
2020 Prizewinner: Madison Sidle, "What is a Viola?"
 
Grinnell College 
Prize Name: Prize in Memory of Lorabel Richardson
Founded: 1994
Donor: Ms. Alice Louise Haug
2020 Prizewinner: Summer Bordon, "Margot to Cuca - Havana 1961"
 
Hamilton College 
Prize Name: Ralph and Doris Hansmann Poetry Prize
Founded: 1962
Donor: Hamilton College
2020 Prizewinner: Madison Lazenby, "Last-Minute Mothering"
 
Harrisburg Area Community College 
Prize Name: Dale T. Guhl Memorial Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Hartwick College 
Prize Name: Anna Sonder Prize
Founder: 1979
Donor: Dr. Otto Sonder
2020 Prizewinner: Amanda Thurston, "A Series of Spokes in a Wheel"
 
Harvard University
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: Harvard University
2020 Prizewinner: Letitia Chan, "Survival as Aesthetic Matter"
 
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1980
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Micah Lau, "Free Skate"
 
Hofstra University 
Prize Name: Nancy P. Schnader Award
Founded: 1974
Donor: Hofstra University
2020 Prizewinner: Taylor Hunsaker, "Change"
 
University of Houston 
Prize Name: Brazos Bookstore/ Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: Mr. Karl Kilian
2020 Prizewinner: Grace Wagner, "The Gift Shop at the End of the World"
 
Hollins University 
Prize Name: Gertrude Claytor Poetry Prize
Founded: 1971
Donor: Mr. W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
2020 Prizewinner: Margot Melançon, "He Spoke from the Blackboard, Enlivened by the Cross Hanging Above His Head"
 
College of the Holy Cross
Prize Name: Dominick Lepore Poetry Award
Founded: 1992
Donor: Dominick J. Lepore
2020 Prizewinner: Leah Zogby, "Alive or Living?"
 
Hope College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2002
Donor: Hope College
2020 Prizewinner: Mitch VanAcker, "To a Mummified Fish"
 
Hunter College 
Prize Name: Catalina Páez & Seumas MacManus Award
Founded: 1987
Donor: Miss Patricia MacManus, Mrs. Mariquita M. Mullan
2020 Prizewinner: Julia Amber, "Thyris Sepulchralis"
 
University of Idaho
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2009
Donor: Karen Trujillo and Don Burnett
2020 Prizewinner: Ryan Downum, "To Be a Handful of Nails Left Out in the Snow Overnight"
 
Illinois College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2003
Donor: Ms. Deborah Klang Smith
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Illinois Wesleyan University 
Prize Name: Arthur W. Hinners & Louise Hinners Sipfle Prize
Founded: 1980
Donor: Friends & Family of Louise Hinners Sipfle
2020 Prizewinner: Yovana Milosevic, "Ruined"
 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
Prize Name: Ruth Llewellyn Baird Prize
Founded: 1966
Donor: Mrs. Robert D. Wood
2020 Prizewinner: Peyton Blodgett, "Partial Visitation (at the Waterfront Music Festival)"
 
Indiana University Bloomington
Prize Name: The Vera Meyer Strube Poetry Prize
Founded: 2003
Donor: Jean Meyer Aloe
2020 Prizewinner: S. J. Ghaus, "What I Wish, Instead"
 
Indiana State University 
Prize Name: The Madeline DeGaetano Memorial Poetry Prize
Founded: 1996
Donor: Dr. Elaine L. Kleiner
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop 
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Johns Hopkins University
Prize Name: The Laureen Rita Schipsi Poetry Prize
Founded: 2011
Donor: Mr. Thomas Newton Bolling
2020 Prizewinner: Sebastian Kettner, "Two Boys"
 
Kenyon College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: Kenyon College
2020 Prizewinner: A. Shaikh, "Monsoon of 2016"
 
Keystone College 
Prize Name: Edward M. Cameron IV Poetry Prize
Founded: 1990
Donor: The Lyric Foundation for Traditional Poetry
2020 Prizewinner: Catherine Boyle, "Ode to My Hair Towel"

Lafayette College 
Prize Name: Jean E. Corrie Poetry Prize
Founded: 1989
Donor: The Lyric Foundation for Traditional Poetry
2020 Prizewinner: Maya Nylund, "Psalm for Claire Fisher"
 
Lewis & Clark College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: Lewis & Clark College
2020 Prizewinner: Ben Virgin, "Cow"
 
Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus 
Prize Name: John & Agnes McCarten Memorial Award
Founded: 1967
Donor: Ms. Jeanne Marie Scott
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Loyola University Maryland 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2004
Donor: Loyola University Maryland
2020 Prizewinner: Georgia Hamann, "Les fleurs de la pluie"
 
Loyola University of Chicago
Prize Name: Dr. Frank C. Lawler Poetry Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Lynchburg
Prize name: Miriam T. and Jude M. Pfister Poetry Prize
Founded: 2015
Donor: Miriam T. and Jude M. Pfister
2020 Prizewinner: C. Hiatt O'Connor, "Thoughts of Horses During Sunday Feed"
 
Macalester College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: Macalester College
2020 Prizewinner: Sophia Schlesinger, "Archaia Polis Lato"
 
Marietta College
Prize Name: The Stephen Schwartz Prize in Poetry
Founded: 2005
Donor: Laura Baudo Sillerman
2020 Prizewinner: Kayla Snider, "Five Dollars and Forty-Seven Cent"
 
University of Maryland, College Park
Prize Name: Prize in Memory of Anaïs Nin
Founded: 1984
Donor: Mr. Robert W. Newcomb
2020 Prizewinner: Hannah Beilenson, "Two Horses Grazing"
 
University of Mary Washington
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: The Poetry Society of Virginia
2020 Prizewinner: Sarah Parker, "you cannot eat a koi fish"
 
University of Massachusetts, Amherst 
Prize Name: Joseph Langland Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
2020 Prizewinner: Shana Bulhan, "i didn’t faint for feint of you"
 
University of Massachusetts, Boston 
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Memphis 
Prize Name: The Deborah L. Talbot Poetry Award
Founded: 2002
Donor: Deborah L. Talbot
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Messiah College
Prize Name: Carrie A. Guhl Poetry Prize
Founded: 2009
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: Christiana Martin, "Hope, New Jersey"
 
Miami-Dade College 
Prize Name: Fred Shaw Poetry Prize
Founded: 1973
Donor: Kathleen Welton
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Miami University (undergraduate) 
Prize Name: Harris S. Abrahams Poetry Prize
Founded: 2000
Donor: Mr. Jeffrey Abrahams
2020 Prizewinner: Delaney Heisterkamp, "sleep debt is out, multiculturalism is in"
 
Miami University (graduate) 
Prize Name: Betty Jane Abrahams Memorial Poetry Prize
Founded: 2001
Donor: Mr. Jeffrey Abrahams
2020 Prizewinner: Jack Nachmanovitch, "On Reading On Reading Horace"
 
University of Miami 
Prize Name: Alfred Boas Poetry Prize
Founded: 1993
Donor: University of Miami
2020 Prizewinner: Maeve Holler, "Self-Portrait as Black Hole"
 
Millersville University
Prize Name: Louis Darrell Sage Poetry Prize
Founded: 2015
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: Sarah Nicole Tyler, "Daughter of the Earth, She Is"
 
University of Michigan (undergraduate) 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1995
Donor: Mrs. Sharon A. Galley
2020 Prizewinner: Lynne Bekdash, "Immigrant Daughter Ghazal"
 
University of Michigan (graduate) 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Mrs. Sharon A. Galley
2020 Prizewinner: Michael M.Weinstein, "Anniversary"
 
University of Minnesota 
Prize Name: James Wright Prize in Poetry
Founded: 1963
Donor: University of Minnesota
2020 Prizewinner: Mariela Lemus, "walls, or construction of the family"
 
University of Missouri at Columbia 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1990
Donor: University of Missouri
2020 Prizewinner: Paul Lee, "Bombs Bursting in Air"
 
University of Montana 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1974
Donor: University of Montana
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Mount Holyoke College 
Prize Name: Gertrude Claytor Poetry Prize
Founded: 1960
Donor: Mr. W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
2020 Prizewinner: Mira Rosenkotz, "andandand remind us of long ago"
 
Muskingum College 
Prize Name: Beulah Brooks Brown Award in Poetry
Founded: 1993
Donor: Muskingum College
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Naropa University
Prize Name: The Margaret Randall Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2009
Donor: Friends of Margaret Randall
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Nebraska, Lincoln 
Prize Name: Wilbur Gaffney Poetry Prize
Founded: 1963
Donor: Professor Emeritus Wilbur Gaffney
2020 Prizewinner: Jessica Poli, "Holmes Lake"
 
University of Nebraska, MFA
Prize Name: Helen W. Kenefick Poetry Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Mr. John C. Kenefick
2020 Prizewinner: Shyla Shehan, "This"
 
New Jersey City University 
Prize Name: The Walter Glospie Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2004
Donor: New Jersey City University
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of New Orleans 
Prize Name: Andrea Saunders Gereighty Poetry Award
Founded: 1986
Donor: Ms. Andrea S. Gereighty
2020 Prizewinner: Nikki Ummel, "Altar"
 
New Mexico State University
Prize Name: Ruth Scott Poetry Award
Donor: Judith N. Scott
2020 Prizewinner: Tonya Suther, "Frayed Laces"
 
New York University
Prize Name: Judith Lobel Arkin Poetry Prize
Founded: 2011
Donor: The Arkin Family
2020 Prizewinner: Angela Cai, "How We Wade"
 
University of North Dakota 
Prize Name: The Thomas McGrath Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: University of North Dakota
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of North Texas
Prize Name: Paul R. Voertman Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: University of North Texas
2020 Prizewinner: Aza Pace, "My Father Asks What I'm Looking At"
 
University of Notre Dame
Prize Name: The Billy Maich Award
Founded: 2005
Donor: Mr. & Mrs. Paul & Jessica Maich
2020 Prizewinner: Jahan Khajavi, "[Remember the day David Buckel set himself on fire]"
 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
Prize Name: The Anne Williams Burrus Prize in Poetry
Founded: 1963
Donor: Mrs. Ann W. Burrus
2020 Prizewinner: Rachel Slover, "Temple"
 
University of North Carolina at Greensboro 
Prize Name: Noel Callow Poetry Award
Founded: 1963
Donor: Anonymous
2020 Prizewinner: Tegan Daly, "an imperfect figure"
 
North Carolina State University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: North Carolina State University
2020 Prizewinner: Misha Lazzara, "11w, 5d"
 
Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Northwestern University 
Prize Name: Jean Meyer Aloe Poetry Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Jean Meyer Aloe
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Northwest Indian College
Prize Name: The Betty and Norman Lockwood Poetry Prize
Founded: 2012
Donor: James Harder
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Ohio State University 
Prize Name: Arthur Rense Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Ms. Paige Rense
2020 Prizewinner: Alyssa Froehling, "Carrion"
 
Oklahoma State University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1978
Donor: Oklahoma State University
2020 Prizewinner: Alysse Gopalakrishnan, "Woman Turned Inside Out"
 
Old Dominion University
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2006
Donor: The Poetry Society of Virginia
2020 Prizewinners: Renée Nicole Macklin, "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs" (undergraduate) and Courtney Tala, "There is a Small TV Mounted in the Cobwebbed Corner of the Breakroom" (graduate)
 
Oregon State University 
Prize Name: Weaver Undergraduate Poetry Award
Founded: 1986
Donor: Oregon State University
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Pace University 
Prize Name: David A. Bickimer—Promise of Learnings Poetry Prize
Founded: 2002
Donor: The Promise of Learnings Inc.
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Pennsylvania State Harrisburg
Prize Name: Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: Emily Dempsey, "Caricature Artist in a 7-Eleven at 1 O’clock in the Morning"
 
Pennsylvania State University 
Prize Name: Leonard Steinberg Memorial Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: Mrs. Pearl Steinberg
2020 Prizewinner: Nakul Grover, "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"
 
University of Pennsylvania 
Prize Name: William Carlos Williams Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: University of Pennsylvania
2020 Prizewinner: Julien Brugeron, "FAILURE IS THEIR ORPHAN: THREE ACTS"
 
Perimeter College
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1999
Donor: The Chattahoochee Review
2019 Winner: No prize awarded
 
Piedmont College
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2012
Donor: Barbara Brown Taylor
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Pittsburgh 
Prize Name: Jean Meyer Aloe Poetry Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: Jean Meyer Aloe
2020 Co-prizewinners: Joshua Corson, "Half-life" and Joseph Jang, "My Father Calls from His Chair"
 
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Prize Name: The Colleen M. Brown Prize
Founded: 2012
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: Kathryn Boehnke, "Watching the Fire"
 
Portland State University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1986
Donor: The Portland State University Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Joshua Pollock, "Monument to the Revolution"
 
Pratt Institute 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1992
Donor: Pratt Institute
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Princeton University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: Drs. William F. and Jerene Hewitt
2020 Prizewinner: Silma Berrada, "epigenetics"
 
Purdue University
Prize Name: The Thomas H. Scholl and Elizabeth Boyd Thompson Poetry Prize
Founded: 2006
Donor: Thomas H. Scholl
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Randolph College 
Prize Name: Charles and Fanny Fay Wood Poetry Prize
Founded: 1963
Donor: Philip Morris Companies, Inc.
2020 Prizewinner: Michaela Seales, "Metamorphosis of an Insomniac"
 
University of Redlands 
Prize Name: Jean Burden Award
Founded: 1984
Donor: Ms. Virginia Everett Smith
2020 Prizewinner: Olivia Umstead, "103 Degrees"
 
Reed College 
Prize Name: The Mary Barnard Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1994
Donor: Reed College
2020 Prizewinner: Ben Read, "Passion Façade"
 
University of Richmond
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: The Poetry Society of Virginia
2020 Prizewinner: Megan Brooks, "The Rats of the Paris Opera House"
 
Rice University
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1986
Donor: Joyce Pounds Hardy
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
University of Rochester 
Prize Name: Marion Devendorf Van Laak Poetry Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: University of Rochester
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Rockford University
Prize Name: Colleen Holmbeck Poetry Prize
Founded: 1984
Donor: Rockford University
2020 Prizewinner: Fatima Alzahraa Hussein, "Tick Tick Tick"
 
Rollins College 
Prize Name: Arden Goettling / Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: Family & Friends of Arden Goettling
2020 Prizewinners: Michael Mcnamara, "One More"
 
Rutgers University 
Prize Name: Enid Dame Memorial Poetry Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: Jeanne Marie Beaumont
2020 Prizewinner: Hyunjin Cheo, "HER WOODEN KISS"
 
St. John’s University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2006
Donor: Thomas McInerney
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
St. Lawrence University 
Prize Name: James Ligon Price III Memorial Prize in Poetry
Founded: 1975
Donor: St. Lawrence University
2020 Prizewinner: Sydney Minnehan, "Analogies to various facets of evolution (people of influence)"

Saint Mary’s College of California 
Prize Name: Russell & Yvonne Lannan Poetry Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Sam Houston State University 
Prize Name: The William C. Weathers Memorial Prize
Founded: 2002
Donor: Ms. Melissa Morphew
2020 Prizewinner: Tyler Deaton, "A Bed of Bees"
 
San Francisco State University (undergraduate) 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Piri Thomas Poetry Prize
Founded: 2009
Donors: Friends and Family of Piri Thomas
2020 Prizewinner: Adaku Okeke, "Black Girl Magic"
 
San Francisco State University (graduate) 
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1996
Donors: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Ana Cielito Fuentes, "Little Miss Nobody"
 
University of San Francisco
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2009
Donor: University of San Francisco
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
San Jose State University 
Prize Name: Virginia de Araujo Prize
Founded: 1981
Donor: Virginia de Araujo Trust
2020 Prizewinner: Rachel A. Crawford, "Visiting Side B"
 
Santa Clara University
Prize Name: Tamara Verga Poetry Prize
Founded: 1995
Donor: Victoria Verga Logan and Frank Verga, Jr.
2020 Prizewinner: Erika Rasmussen, "Psalm 151, The Warmth I Offer Myself"
 
Sarah Lawrence College (undergraduate)
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1974
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Sarah Lawrence College (graduate)
Prize Name: The John B. Santoianni Award for Excellence in Poetry
Donor: Joseph McCrindle and Charmaine Ferenczi
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Shimer Great Books School at North Central College 
Prize Name: Ruth Cooley Poetry Prize
Founded: 1976
Donor: Mr. Peter Cooley
2020 Prizewinner: Emma Yahr, "Healing: An Index"
 
Shippensburg University
Prize Name: Laura A. Rice Poetry Prize
Founded: 2015
Donor: Laura A. Rice Poetry Prize
2020 Prizewinner: Victoria Helfrick, "Dandelion"
 
Skidmore College
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Skidmore College
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Smith College 
Prize Name: Anne Bradstreet Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: Smith College
2020 Prizewinner: Ira Goga, "The Kitchen, Indexed"
 
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (undergraduate)
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Mr. Rodney Jones
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (graduate)
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1998
Donor: Carolyn Forman Moe
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Spelman College
Prize Name: Edith A. Hambie Poetry Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: Anonymous
2020 Prizewinner: K. Miaya Webster, "Blood Stained Glass"
 
Spring Hill College 
Prize Name: Reverend Andrew C. Smith, S.J., Poetry Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Stetson University 
Prize Name: The Holly M. Kimball Poetry Prize
Founded: 2005
Donor: Mr. Phillip Blumberg
2020 Prizewinners: No prize awarded
 
SUNY Albany 
Prize Name: Phyllis Hurd Liston Poetry Prize
Founded: 1998
Donor: The Liston Family
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
SUNY Binghamton 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1979
Donor: SUNY Binghamton
2020 Prizewinners: Sofia Rosario, "Matriarch" (undergraduate) and Macaulay Glynn, "Animal Cabinet" (graduate)
 
SUNY Buffalo - Graduate
Prize Name: The Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1974
Donor: SUNY Buffalo
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
SUNY Buffalo - Undergraduate
Prize Name: Dan Liberthson Poetry Prize
Founded: 2010
Donor: Mr. Dan Liberthson
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
SUNY Farmingdale
Prize Name: Raynor Wallace Poetry Award
Founded: 1988
Donor: SUNY Farmingdale
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
SUNY Oswego 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: Mr. John W. Mincher, Jr.
2020 Prizewinner: Madeline Weisbeck, "Les Engenues"
 
Sweet Briar College 
Prize Name: The Jean Taylor Meyer Memorial Poetry Prize
Founded: 2003
Donor: Jean Meyer Aloe
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Temple University 
Prize Name: Albert J. Caplan Prize
Founded: 1985
Donor: Mr. Albert J. Caplan
2020 Prizewinner: Matthew Johnston, "Atlantic Songs"
 
University of Texas at Austin 
Prize Name: Andrew Julius Gutow Poetry Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: The Andrew Julius Gutow Memorial Fund
2020 Prizewinners: Matthew Leger, "Airport Blvd." (undergraduate) and Hedgie Choi, "Phases" (graduate)
 
Trinity College 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1997
Donor: Trinity College
2020 Prizewinner: Caroline Richards, "When I Think of Love"
 
Tufts University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: Tufts University
2020 Prizewinner: Leticia Priebe Rocha, "Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, Better Known"
 
Tulane University 
Prize Name: Anselle M. Larson / Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Mr. Herbert V. Larson, Jr.
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
United States Naval Academy 
Prize Name: Stuart Pitt Memorial Poetry Prize
Founded: 1975
Donor: Mrs. A. Stuart Pitt
2020 Prizewinner: Lilli Hirth, "East Coast"
 
University of Utah 
Prize Name: Larry Levis Memorial Poetry Prize
Founded: 1969
Donor: University of Utah
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Valdosta State University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1986
Donor: Mr. Edward Davin Vickers
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Valparaiso University 
Prize Name: Vivian S. Richards Memorial Prize
Founded: 1988
Donor: Mr. & Mrs. Nancy & Michael Becker
2020 Prizewinner: Faith L. Smith, "City Girl"
 
Vanderbilt University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Vanderbilt University
2020 Prizewinner: Hayes Cooper, "Our Elegy"
 
Vassar College 
Prize Name: Mary Rousmaniere Gordon Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: Mr. Albert H. Gordon
2020 Prizewinner: Clarissa Hyde, "Sawbuck"
 
University of Virginia
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: Henry Hoyns Bequest, Charles Wright
2020 Prizewinner: Lydia Brown, "The Dream House"
 
Virginia Commonwealth University 
Prize Name: Catherine and Joan Byrne Poetry Prize
Founded: 2002
Donor: Nan Byrne
2020 Prizewinner: Hayley Graffunder, "Doomsday Baby and I"
 
Virginia Tech
Prize name: Virginia Tech / Poetry Society of Virginia Prize
Founded: 2007
Donor: The Poetry Society of Virginia
2020 Prizewinner: Bessie Flores Zaldívar, "Land Sickness: A Sestina"
 
Washington College 
Prize Name: The Jude and Miriam Pfister Poetry Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: Dr. & Mrs. Jude Pfister
2020 Prizewinner: Teddy Friedline, "Gender Of The Poet, As Evaluated Through First & Second Derivative Tests"
 
Washington & Lee University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Anonymous
2020 Prizewinner: Kathryn Muensterman, "Eschatology"
 
Washington University 
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1968
Donor: Washington University
2020 Prizewinners: Kate Wardenburg, "2003 Questions I'm Still Pondering" (undergraduate) and Justin Danzy, "Isaac"
 
University of Washington 
Prize Name: Harold Taylor Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: The New Hope Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: M. Alexander Turner, "Cosmic Microwave Background"
 
Wayne State University 
Prize Name: John Clare Prize
Founded: 1984
Donor: Mr. & Mrs. Nancy & Michael Becker
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Wellesley College 
Prize Name: Nevin Prize
Founded: 1957
Donor: The Family of Betty Nevin Marshall & Robert Nevin
2020 Prizewinner: Sanjana Thakur, "Birthday Party"
 
Wells College 
Prize Name: Catharine B. De Pau Poetry Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: The Lyric Foundation for Traditional Poetry
2020 Prizewinner: Michael Gray Bulla, "Masochist"
 
Wesleyan College 
Prize Name: George Warren Gignilliat, Jr. Poetry Prize
Founded: 1984
Donor: J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Wesleyan University
Prize Name: Sarah Hannah Memorial Prize
Founded: 2008
Donor: Kate Bernheimer
2020 Prizewinners: Gabriel Ridout, "Laurel Canyon"
 
Westminster College
Prize Name: Anne Newman Sutton Weeks Prize
Founded: 1999
Donor: Westminster College
2020 Prizewinner: Marilyn Salguero, "Bitch"
 
College of William & Mary
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 1983
Donor: Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda
2020 Prizewinner: Shane Moran, "Matoaka"
 
Williams College
Prize Name: Bullock Poetry Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: The Academy of American Poets
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Wilson College
Prize Name: The William and Ivy Saylor Prize
Founded: 2013
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: Kristyn Covert, "Avery"
 
University of Wisconsin, Madison 
Prize Name: George B. Hill Poetry Prize
Founded: 2004
Donor: Kevin P. Bjerregaard
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
College of Wooster 
Prize Name: Cora Owlett Latzer Award
Founded: 1983
Donor: Ms. Susan Donnell
2020 Prizewinner: No prize awarded
 
Yale University 
Prize Name: Sean T. Lannan Poetry Prize
Founded: 1955
Donor: The Lannan Foundation
2020 Prizewinner: Olivia Belliveau, "Daydream"
 
Yonsei University / Underwood International College
Prize Name: Academy of American Poets Prize
Founded: 2011
Donor: Yonsei University
2020 Prizewinners: Min Kim, "Dots and Zots, and My Final Youth" and Elijah Lee, "To Tea"
 
York College of Pennsylvania
Prize Name: Mary Jane’s Diamond Prize
Founded: 2015
Donor: Mr. Raymond W. Britcher
2020 Prizewinner: Samantha Sabatini, "Tu Me Manques"

Materials for Coordinators 
Download PDF 

Contact Information 
For more information, please contact:

Nikay Paredes
Senior Programs Manager
[email protected]
(212) 274-0343 x 13

Academy of American Poets
75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901
New York, NY 10038

return to top