The Four Quartets Prize is an award of the

Poetry Society of America Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any partic ...

, presented annually since 2018 in partnership with the

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

Foundation. It is "first and foremost a celebration of the multi-part poem, which includes entire volumes composed of a unified sequence as well as novels in verse and book-length verse narratives."

Background

The awards are named for T. S. Eliot's ''

Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a fe ...

,'' written over a four-year period. The award recognizes the 75th anniversary of Eliot's New York publisher first collecting them in a single volume in 1943.

Eligibility

The prize is awarded for a unified and complete sequence of poems. Examples of existing sequences that would fit the category: *

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 ...

, ''A Street in Bronzeville'' (1945), or ''The Anniad'' (1950) *

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 ...

, 77 ''Dream Poems'' (1964), or ''His Toy, His Dream, His Rest'' (1968) Winners receive a prize of $20,000; three finalists (including the eventual winner) receive $1,000 apiece. The prize does not require that nominees have an existing body of work or reach a certain age. The Four Quartets Prize was first presented in 2018 to Danez Smith for their sonnet "summer, somewhere."

Four Quartets winners and finalists

Winners are listed first, highlighted and with a double dagger.

References

{{Reflist *

External links

The Four Quartets Prize
at the Poetry Society of America official website American poetry awards Awards established in 2018 2018 establishments in the United States Poetry Society of America