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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

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July 31, 2018

Walt Whitman Award Winners

 

As we approach the beginning of the submission period for the 2019 Walt Whitman Award, we present a selection of poems by previous winners.

 

"There are things this poem would rather not say:" by Elana Bell
"Foul Ball" by David Bottoms
"Self-Portrait as Miranda" by Geri Doran
"New Make" by Chris Hosea
"Realia" by Eric Pankey
"Strip" by Hannah Sanghee Park
"Elegy in X Parts [My foreshadow stretches]" by Matt Rasmussen
"Dear Ruth" by Emily Skaja
"Mint" by Elaine Terranova

2019 Whitman Judge: Li-Young Lee

 

We're pleased to announce that Li-Young Lee will judge the 2019 Walt Whitman Award, the most valuable first-book prize for poetry in the country. The submission period opens September 1.

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Read "The Totality of Causes: Li-Young Lee and Tina Chang in Conversation."

Read poems by Li-Young Lee.

Watch archival Poetry Breaks videos featuring Li-Young Lee and more.

August Guest Editor: Evie Shockley

 

The Poem-a-Day guest editor for the month of August is Evie Shockley, author of four poetry collections, including semiautomatic (Wesleyan University Press, 2017). Sign up for Poem-a-Day to read the poems she selected for next month.

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Remembering Yi Lei, 1951–2018

 

In remembrance of Chinese poet Yi Lei, who died on July 14, read this tribute by U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, who has also translated many of Lei's works, some of which are featured here.

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Dodge Poetry Festival 2018

 

Join us as we return to Newark, New Jersey, on October 18–20 for the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, the largest poetry event in North America. Several of our Chancellors will be in attendance for panels and readings. Buy your tickets and find out more.

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In Case You Missed It

 

How to Make a Life from Scratch
Academy Chancellor Elizabeth Alexander writes about her late husband, an Eritrean refugee, and asks, "What is home, to a refugee?" in The New York Times.

 

The Rumpus Poetry Book Club Chat with Terrance Hayes
The Rumpus interviews Academy Chancellor Terrance Hayes about his latest collection, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin.

 

Ask a Poet: Alicia Ostriker
Academy Chancellor Alicia Ostriker, who will be one of the Chancellors present at this year's Dodge Poetry Festival, answers some questions on the Dodge Blog.

 

Jenny Xie's "Ongoing"
Rita Dove selects a poem by 2017 Walt Whitman Award winner Jenny Xie for The New York Times Magazine.

 

Mandela Day 2018
Celebrating Nelson Mandela's centennial with William Ernest Henley's "Invictus."

 

What poet—and novelist and essayist and playwright—born this week in 1924 held jobs as a railroad worker and a preacher and had a 1,884-page dossier compiled about him by the FBI?

 

Read the answer.

Sponsored Content

 

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The Academy of American Poets is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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Announcing the 2019 Walt Whitman Award Judge and More