The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

s awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published during the preceding calendar year. Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.

1918 and 1919 special prizes

Before the establishment of the award, the

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

and 1919 Pulitzer cycles included three

Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards The Pulitzer Prize jury has the option of awarding special citations and awards where they consider necessary. Prizes for the award vary. The Pulitzer Prize Board has stated that the Special Citations given to George Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, ...

(called at the time the Columbia University Poetry Prize) for poetry books funded by "a special grant from

The Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

." See Special Pulitzers for Letters. * 1918: ''Love Songs'' by Sara Teasdale * 1919: ''Cornhuskers'' by

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

* 1919: ''The Old Road to Paradise'' by Margaret Widdemer

Winners

In its first 92 years to 2013, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry was awarded 92 times. Two were given in 2008, none in 1946.

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American collo ...

won the prize four times and several others won it more than once (

below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ...

1920s

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

: ''Collected Poems'' by

Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robi ...

* 1923: ''"The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver"'', ''A Few Figs from Thistles'', and "Eight Sonnets", by Edna St. Vincent Millay *

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

: '' New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes'' by

* 1925: ''The Man Who Died Twice'' by

* 1926: ''What's O'Clock'' by

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, which promoted a return to classical values. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on Febr ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

: ''Fiddler's Farewell'' by

Leonora Speyer Leonora Speyer, Lady Speyer (née von Stosch; 7 November 1872 – 10 February 1956), was an American poet and violinist. Life She was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Count Ferdinand von Stosch of Mantze in Silesia, who fought for th ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

: ''Tristram'' by

* 1929: '' John Brown's Body'' by Stephen Vincent Benét

1930s

* 1930: ''Selected Poems'' by

Conrad Aiken Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) was an American writer and poet, honored with a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, and was United States Poet Laureate from 1950 to 1952. His published works include poetry, short ...

* 1931: ''Collected Poems'' by

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...

: ''The Flowering Stone'' by George Dillon *

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

: ''Conquistador'' by Archibald MacLeish * 1934: ''Collected Verse'' by Robert Hillyer *

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

: ''Bright Ambush'' by Audrey Wurdemann * 1936: ''Strange Holiness'' by

Robert P. T. Coffin Robert Peter Tristram Coffin (March 18, 1892 – January 20, 1955) was an American poet, educator, writer, editor and literary critic. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1936, he was the Poetry editor for ''Yankee'' magazine. Early life ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into ...

: ''

A Further Range ''A Further Range'' is a collection of poems by Robert Frost published in 1936 by Henry Holt and Company (New York) and in 1937 by Jonathan Cape (London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of ...

'' by

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

: ''Cold Morning Sky'' by

Marya Zaturenska Marya Zaturenska (September 12, 1902 – January 19, 1982) was an American lyric poet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1938. Life She was born in Kyiv and her family emigrated to the United States, when she was eight and lived in ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

: ''Selected Poems'' by John Gould Fletcher

1940s

* 1940: ''Collected Poems'' by

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thi ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

: ''Sunderland Capture'' by Leonard Bacon * 1942: ''The Dust Which Is God'' by William Rose Benét * 1943: ''

A Witness Tree ''A Witness Tree'' is a collection of poems by Robert Frost, most of which are short lyric, first published in 1942 by Henry Holt and Company in New York. The collection was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry i ...

'' by

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in ...

: ''Western Star'' by Stephen Vincent Benét * 1945: ''V-Letter and Other Poems'' by

Karl Shapiro Karl Jay Shapiro (November 10, 1913 – May 14, 2000) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1945 for his collection ''V-Letter and Other Poems''. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

: no award given *

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

: '' Lord Weary's Castle'' by

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the '' Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

: '' The Age of Anxiety'' by W. H. Auden *

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

: ''Terror and Decorum'' by Peter Viereck

1950s

* 1950: ''Annie Allen'' by

Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poet ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

: ''Complete Poems'' by

* 1952: ''Collected Poems'' by

Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. Early life Moore was born in Kirkwood ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

: ''Collected Poems 1917-1952'' by Archibald MacLeish *

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

: ''The Waking'' by Theodore Roethke *

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

: ''Collected Poems'' by

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

: ''Poems: North & South — A Cold Spring'' by Elizabeth Bishop * 1957: ''Things of This World'' by Richard Wilbur *

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

: ''Promises: Poems 1954-1956'' by

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the lit ...

* 1959: ''Selected Poems 1928-1958'' by Stanley Kunitz

1960s

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

: ''Heart's Needle'' by

W. D. Snodgrass William De Witt Snodgrass (January 5, 1926 – January 13, 2009) was an American poet who also wrote under the pseudonym S. S. Gardons. He won the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Life Snodgrass was born on January 5, 1926, in Beaver Falls, ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

: ''Times Three: Selected Verse From Three Decades'' by Phyllis McGinley * 1962: ''Poems'' by

Alan Dugan Alan Dugan (February 12, 1923 – September 3, 2003) was an American poet. His first volume ''Poems'' published in 1961 was a chosen by the Yale Series of Younger Poets and went on to win the National Book Award for Poetry and the Pulitzer P ...

* 1963: ''Pictures from Brueghel'' by

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

* 1964: ''At The End Of The Open Road'' by Louis Simpson *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

: ''

77 Dream Songs ''The Dream Songs'' is a compilation of two books of poetry, '' 77 Dream Songs'' (1964) and ''His Toy, His Dream, His Rest'' (1968), by the American poet John Berryman. According to Berryman's "Note" to ''The Dream Songs'', "This volume combines ...

'' by

John Berryman John Allyn McAlpin Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.; October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was an American poet and scholar. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and is considered a key figure in th ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

: ''Selected Poems'' by

Richard Eberhart Richard Ghormley Eberhart (April 5, 1904 – June 9, 2005) was an American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total. "Richard Eberhart emerged out of the 1930s as a modern stylist with romant ...

* 1967: '' Live or Die'' by Anne Sexton *

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

: ''The Hard Hours'' by

Anthony Hecht Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

: ''Of Being Numerous'' by

George Oppen George Oppen (April 24, 1908 – July 7, 1984) was an American poet, best known as one of the members of the Objectivist group of poets. He abandoned poetry in the 1930s for political activism and moved to Mexico in 1950 to avoid the attentions ...

1970s

* 1970: ''Untitled Subjects'' by Richard Howard *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

: ''The Carrier of Ladders'' by W. S. Merwin * 1972: ''Collected Poems'' by James Wright * 1973: ''Up Country'' by Maxine Kumin *

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

: ''The Dolphin'' by

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

: '' Turtle Island'' by

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...

* 1976: '' Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror'' by

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

* 1977: ''

Divine Comedies {{italic title ''Divine Comedies'' is the seventh book of poetry by James Merrill (1926–1995). Published in 1976 (see 1976 in poetry), the volume includes " Lost in Translation" and all of ''The Book of Ephraim''. ''The Book of Ephraim'' is ...

'' by James Merrill *

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

: ''Collected Poems'' by Howard Nemerov * 1979: ''Now and Then'' by

1980s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. *

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

: ''Selected Poems'' by Donald Justice ** ''Goshawk, Antelope'' by Dave Smith ** ''Selected Poems'' by Richard Hugo * 1981: ''The Morning of the Poem'' by James Schuyler ** ''Selected Poems'' by Mark Strand ** ''The Right Madness on Skye'' by Richard Hugo *

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

: ''The Collected Poems'' by Sylvia Plath ** ''Dream Flights'' by Dave Smith ** ''The Southern Cross'' by Charles Wright * 1983: ''Selected Poems'' by Galway Kinnell ** ''Country Music, Selected Early Poems'' by Charles Wright ** '' Monolithos, Poems 1962 and 1982'' by

Jack Gilbert Jack Gilbert (February 18, 1925 – November 13, 2012) was an American poet. Gilbert was acquainted with Jack Spicer and Allen Ginsberg, both prominent figureheads of the Beat Movement, but is not considered a Beat Poet; he described himself as ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

: ''American Primitive'' by Mary Oliver ** ''Collected Poems, 1930-1982'' by Josephine Miles ** ''Weather-Fear: New and Selected Poems'' by

John Engels John Engels (January 19, 1931 South Bend, Indiana - June 13, 2007 Vermont) was an American poet. Life John Engels graduated from University of Notre Dame in 1952. After Navy service, Engels studied at the University College, Dublin, then gradua ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

: ''Yin'' by Carolyn Kizer ** ''Ground Work'' by Robert Duncan ** ''The Other Side of the River'' by Charles Wright *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

: ''The Flying Change'' by

Henry S. Taylor Henry Splawn Taylor (born June 21, 1942) is an American poet, author of more than 15 books of poems, translation, and nonfiction, and winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Taylor was born in Lincoln, Virginia, in rural Loudoun County, w ...

** ''Saints and Strangers'' by

Andrew Hudgins Andrew Hudgins (born 22 April 1951 Killeen, Texas) is an American poet. Biography Hudgins was raised in Alabama. He earned a B.A. at Huntingdon College, an M.A. at the University of Alabama, and an M.F.A. at the University of Iowa. He is the auth ...

** ''Selected Poems, 1963-1983'' by Charles Simic * 1987: ''Thomas and Beulah'' by Rita Dove ** ''The Selected Poetry of Hayden Carruth'' by Hayden Carruth ** ''Unending Blues'' by Charles Simic * 1988: ''Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems'' by William Meredith ** ''Flesh and Blood'' by C.K. Williams ** ''Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980'' and ''Next: New Poems'' by Lucille Clifton *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

: ''New and Collected Poems'' by Richard Wilbur ** ''The One Day'' by Donald Hall ** ''The River of Heaven'' by

Garrett Hongo Garrett Kaoru Hongo (born May 30, 1951) is a Yonsei, fourth-generation Japanese American academic and poet. His work draws on Japanese American history and his own experiences.Arakawa, Suzanne K. (2005). "Hongo, Garrett (Kaoru)", in He was a f ...

1990s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

: ''The World Doesn't End'' by Charles Simic ** ''Selected and Last Poems'' by Paul Zweig ** ''Time's Power'' by Adrienne Rich *** * 1991: '' Near Changes'' by Mona Van Duyn ** ''Leaving Another Kingdom'' by

Gerald Stern Gerald Daniel Stern (February 22, 1925 – October 27, 2022) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. The author of twenty collections of poetry and four books of essays, he taught literature and creative writing at Temple University, Indi ...

** ''The Transparent Man'' by

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

: ''Selected Poems'' by James Tate ** ''An Atlas of the Difficult World'' by Adrienne Rich ** ''Selected Poems'' by

Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. He was close with Char ...

* 1993: '' The Wild Iris'' by

Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". H ...

** ''Hotel Lautreamont'' by

** ''Selected Poems 1946-1985'' by James Merrill *

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

: ''Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems'' by Yusef Komunyakaa ** ''Bright Existence'' by Brenda Hillman ** ''The Metamorphoses of Ovid'' by

Allen Mandelbaum __NOTOC__ Allen Mandelbaum (May 4, 1926 – October 27, 2011) was a Jewish American professor of literature and the humanities, poet, and translator from Classical Greek, Latin and Italian. His translations of classic works gained him numerous awar ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

: ''The Simple Truth'' by Philip Levine ** ''Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992'' by

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

** ''On The Great Atlantic Rainway: Selected Poems 1950-1988'' and ''One Train'' by Kenneth Koch *

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

: ''The Dream of the Unified Field'' by

Jorie Graham Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at ...

** ''Chickamauga'' by Charles Wright ** ''New and Selected Poems'' by Donald Justice *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

: ''Alive Together: New and Selected Poems'' by

Lisel Mueller Lisel Mueller (born Elisabeth Neumann, February 8, 1924 – February 21, 2020) was a German-born American poet, translator and academic teacher. Her family fled the Nazi regime, and she arrived in the U.S. in 1939 at the age of 15. She worked as a ...

** ''The Figured Wheel'' by Robert Pinsky ** ''The Willow Grove'' by

Laurie Sheck Laurie may refer to: Places * Laurie, Cantal, France, a commune * Laurie, Missouri, United States, a village * Laurie Island, Antarctica Music * Laurie Records, a record label * ''Laurie'' (EP), a 1992 album by Daniel Johnston * "Laurie (Str ...

* 1998: ''Black Zodiac'' by Charles Wright ** ''Desire'' by Frank Bidart ** ''The Vigil'' by C.K. Williams *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

: ''Blizzard of One'' by Mark Strand ** ''Going Fast'' by

Frederick Seidel Frederick Seidel (born February 19, 1936) is an American poet. Biography Seidel was born to a family of Russian Jewish descent in St. Louis, Missouri in 1936. His family owned Seidel Coal and Coke, which supplied coal to the brewing industry in ...

** ''Mysteries of Small Houses'' by Alice Notley

2000s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. Two prizes were awarded in 2008. * 2000: ''Repair'' by

C. K. Williams Charles Kenneth "C. K." Williams (November 4, 1936 – September 20, 2015) was an American poet, critic and translator. Williams won many poetry awards. ''Flesh and Blood'' won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1987. ''Repair'' (1999) wo ...

** ''Elegy for the Southern Drawl'' by Rodney Jones ** ''Midnight Salvage: Poems 1995-1998'' by Adrienne Rich *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

: ''Different Hours'' by

Stephen Dunn Stephen Elliot Dunn (June 24, 1939June 24, 2021) was an American poet and educator who authored twenty-one collections of poetry. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 2001 collection, ''Different Hours,'' and received an Academy Award ...

** ''Pursuit of a Wound'' by Sydney Lea ** ''The Other Lover'' by Bruce Smith *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: ''Practical Gods'' by Carl Dennis ** ''The Beforelife'' by

Franz Wright Franz Wright (March 18, 1953 – May 14, 2015) was an American poet. He and his father James Wright are the only parent/child pair to have won the Pulitzer Prize in the same category. Life and career Wright was born in Vienna, Austria. He gradu ...

** ''The Seven Ages'' by

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

: ''Moy Sand and Gravel'' by

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University P ...

** ''Hazmat'' by

J. D. McClatchy J. D. "Sandy" McClatchy (August 12, 1945 – April 10, 2018) was an American poet, opera librettist and literary critic. He was editor of the ''Yale Review'' and president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Life McClatchy was born J ...

** ''Music Like Dirt'' by Frank Bidart *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

: ''Walking to Martha's Vineyard'' by

** ''Eyeshot'' by Heather McHugh ** ''Middle Earth'' by Henri Cole *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

: ''Delights & Shadows'' by Ted Kooser ** ''Search Party: Collected Poems'' by William Matthews ** ''The Orchard'' by

Brigit Pegeen Kelly Brigit Pegeen Kelly (1951 – October 14, 2016) was an American poet and teacher. Born in Palo Alto, California, Kelly grew up in southern Indiana and lived much of her adult life in central Illinois. An intensely private woman, little is known ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

: ''Late Wife'' by Claudia Emerson ** ''American Sublime'' by Elizabeth Alexander ** ''Elegy on Toy Piano'' by Dean Young *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

: ''Native Guard'' by

Natasha Trethewey Natasha Trethewey (born April 26, 1966) is an American poet who was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 2012 and again in 2013. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection ''Native Guard'', and she is a former Poet La ...

** ''Interrogation Palace: New & Selected Poems 1982-2004'' by

David Wojahn David Wojahn (born 1953, St. Paul, Minnesota) is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Art ...

** ''The Republic of Poetry'' by Martín Espada *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: ''Time and Materials'' by Robert Hass and ''Failure'' by Philip Schultz ** ''Messenger: New and Selected Poems, 1976-2006'' by Ellen Bryant Voigt *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

: ''The Shadow of Sirius'' by W. S. Merwin ** ''Watching the Spring Festival'' by Frank Bidart ** ''What Love Comes To: New & Selected Poems'' by Ruth Stone

2010s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: '' Versed'' by

Rae Armantrout Rae Armantrout (born April 13, 1947) is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. She has published ten books of poetry and has also been featured in a number of major anthologies. Armantrout currently teaches at the Unive ...

** ''Inseminating the Elephant'' by

Lucia Perillo Lucia Maria Perillo (September 30, 1958 – October 16, 2016) was an American poet. In 2000, Perillo was recognized with a "genius grant" as part of the MacArthur Fellows Program. Life and career Perillo was born in Manhattan on September 30, 19 ...

** ''Tryst'' by

Angie Estes Angie Estes is an American poet, and professor at Ashland University. She graduated from the University of Oregon with an M.A. and Ph.D. in English. She taught at California Polytechnic State University, Oberlin College, and Ohio State Universit ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

: ''The Best of It: New and Selected Poems'' by Kay Ryan ** ''Break the Glass'' by Jean Valentine ** ''The Common Man'' by

Maurice Manning Maurice Manning (born 14 June 1943) is an Irish academic and former Fine Gael politician. Manning was a member of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) for 21 years, serving in both the Dáil and the Seanad. Since August 2002 he has been President ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

: ''Life on Mars'' by

Tracy K. Smith Tracy K. Smith (born April 16, 1972) is an American poet and educator. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. She has published four collections of poetry, winning the Pulitzer Prize for her 2011 volume ''Life ...

** ''Core Samples from the World'' by Forrest Gander ** ''How Long'' by

Ron Padgett Ron Padgett (born June 17, 1942, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School. ''Great Balls of Fire'', Padgett's first full-length collection of poems, was published in 1969. He ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

: ''Stag's Leap'' by Sharon Olds ** ''Collected Poems'' by

** ''The Abundance of Nothing'' by Bruce Weigl *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

: ''3 Sections'' by Vijay Seshadri ** ''The Big Smoke'' by

Adrian Matejka Adrian Matejka is an American poet. He was the poet laureate of Indiana for the 2018–2019 term. Since May 2022, he has been the editor of '' Poetry'' magazine. Life Born in Nuremberg, Germany, while his family served in the U.S. military, ...

** ''The Sleep of Reason'' by

Morri Creech Morri Creech (born 1970) is an American poet. He earned a BA at Winthrop University and an MA and MFA at McNeese State University. His collection ''The Sleep of Reason'' was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and his collection ' ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

: ''Digest'' by Gregory Pardlo ** ''Compass Rose'' by

Arthur Sze Arthur Sze (; ; born December 1, 1950) is an American poet, translator, and professor. Since 1972, he has published ten collections of poetry. Sze's ninth collection ''Compass Rose'' (2014) was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Sz ...

** ''Reel to Reel'' by

Alan Shapiro Alan Richard Shapiro (born February 18, 1952 in Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the ...

* 2016: ''

Ozone Journal ''Ozone Journal'' is a 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning work by Peter Balakian. The title poem of Balakian's ''Ozone Journal'' is a sequence of 54 short sections, "each a poem in itself, recounting the speaker's memory of excavating the bones of Ar ...

'' by

Peter Balakian Peter Balakian, born June 13, 1951, is an American poet, prose writer, and scholar. He is the author of many books including the 2016 Pulitzer prize winning book of poems ''Ozone Journal'', the memoir ''Black Dog of Fate'', winner of the PEN/Alb ...

** ''Alive: New and Selected Poems'' by Elizabeth Willis ** ''Four-Legged Girl'' by

Diane Seuss Diane Seuss (born 1956) is an American poet and educator. Her book '' frank: sonnets'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2022. She was born in Michigan City, Indiana and grew up in Michi ...

* 2017: '' Olio'' by Tyehimba Jess ** ''Collected Poems: 1950-2012'' by Adrienne Rich ** ''XX'' by Campbell McGrath *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: '' Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016'' by Frank Bidart ** '' Incendiary Art'', by Patricia Smith ** ''semiautomatic'', by

Evie Shockley Evie Shockley is an American poet. Shockley received the 2012 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Poetry for her book ''the new black'' and the 2012 Holmes National Poetry Prize. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2018. Early life and education ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: ''Be With'' by Forrest Gander ** ''feeld'' by

Jos Charles Jos Charles (born November 14, 1988) is a trans American poet, writer, translator, and editor. In 2017 her book ''feeld'' was a winner in the prestigious National Poetry Series. She is the founding editor of THEM, the first trans literary journal i ...

** ''Like'' by

A.E. Stallings Alicia Elsbeth Stallings (born July 2, 1968) is an American New Formalist and Philhellene poet and translator. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow (the "Genius Grant"). Background Stallin ...

2020s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. * 2020: ''

The Tradition The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlike the U.S. Senior Op ...

'' by

Jericho Brown Jericho Brown (born April 14, 1976) is an American poet and writer. Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown has worked as an educator at institutions such as University of Houston, San Diego State University, and Emory University. His poe ...

** ''Dunce'' by Mary Ruefle ** ''Only as the Day Is Long: New and Selected Poems'' by Dorianne Laux *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

: ''Postcolonial Love Poem'' by Natalie Diaz ** ''A Treatise on Stars'' by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge ** ''In the Lateness of the World'' by Carolyn Forché * 2022: '' frank: sonnets'' by

** ''Refractive Africa: Ballet of the Forgotten'' by Will Alexander ** ''Yellow Rain'' by

Mai Der Vang Mai Der Vang is a Hmong American poet. Life and education Vang was born in Fresno, California. Vang's parents resettled in the United States in 1981 as Hmong refugees fleeing Laos. She graduated from University of California, Berkeley with ...

Repeat winners

won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times from 1924 to 1943.

won three prizes during the 1920s and several people, all male, have won two. * Edwin Arlington Robinson, 1922, 1925, 1928 * Robert Frost, 1924, 1931, 1937, 1943 * Stephen Vincent Benét, 1929, 1944 * Archibald MacLeish, 1933, 1953 *

, 1947, 1974 * Richard Wilbur, 1957, 1989 *

, 1958, 1979 *

William S. Merwin William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose, and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was the ...

, 1971, 2009 Carl Sandburg won one of the special prizes for his poetry in 1919 and won the Poetry Pulitzer in 1951.

References

External links

* {{PulitzerPrize PoetryAuthors

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

American poetry awards Awards established in 1922

1918 and 1919 special prizes

Winners

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Repeat winners

See also

References

External links