The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce that Carolyn Forché will judge the 2016 Walt Whitman Award, the nation’s most valuable first-book prize for poetry. The winner of the Whitman Award will receive $5,000 and be published by Graywolf Press in 2017. In addition, the Academy of American Poets will purchase and send thousands of copies of the book to its members, making it one of the most widely distributed poetry books of the year. The award winner also receives a six-week all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy, will be featured in American Poets magazine, and on their website Poets.org, which reaches millions of readers each year.