Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories;Template:Refn Joseph Pulitzer's will had not mentioned poetry.<ref name="first">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.

Before the establishment of the award, the 1918 and 1919 Pulitzer cycles included three Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards (called at the time the Columbia University Poetry Prize) for poetry books funded by "a special grant from The Poetry Society."<ref name=prize/>Template:Refn See Special Pulitzers for Letters.

Harriet Monroe, founding publisher and long-time editor of Poetry magazine, wrote in an editorial (Apr.-Sept., 1922), "The award of a Pulitzer Prize of one thousand dollars to the Collected Poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson is a most agreeable surprise, as this is the first Pulitzer Prize ever granted to a poet. Four years ago, when the Poetry Society of America gave its first annual five hundred dollars to Sara Teasdale's Love Songs, the award, being made in conjunction with the Pulitzer prizes, was falsely attributed to the same origin."<ref name="first" />

Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.<ref name=prize/>

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.<ref name=prize/> Robert Frost won the prize four times and several others won it more than once (below).

Pulitzer Special Prizes for Poetry, 1918 and 1919

Year	Poet	Title
1918	Template:Sortname	Love Songs
1919	Template:Sortname	Cornhuskers
1919	Template:Sortname	The Old Road to Paradise

1920s–1970s

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Year	Poet	Title	Ref.
1922	Template:Sortname	Collected PoemsTemplate:Refn
1923	Template:Sortname	"Template:Sort," "A Few Figs from Thistles," and "Eight Sonnets"
1924	Template:Sortname	New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":10">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1925	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1926	Template:Sortname	What's O'Clock
1927	Template:Sortname	Fiddler's Farewell
1928	Template:Sortname	Tristram
1929	Template:Sortname	John Brown's Body
1930	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems
1931	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems	<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" />
1932	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1933	Template:Sortname	Conquistador
1934	Template:Sortname	Collected Verse
1935	Template:Sortname	Bright Ambush
1936	Template:Sortname	Strange Holiness
1937	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" />
1938	Template:Sortname	Cold Morning Sky
1939	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems
1940	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems
1941	Template:Sortname	Sunderland Capture
1942	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1943	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" />
1944	Template:Sortname	Western Star
1945	Template:Sortname	V-Letter and Other Poems
1946	No award given
1947	Template:Sortname	Lord Weary's Castle
1948	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1949	Template:Sortname	Terror and Decorum
1950	Template:Sortname	Annie Allen	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1951	Template:Sortname	Complete Poems
1952	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems
1953	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems 1917-1952
1954	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1955	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems
1956	Template:Sortname	Poems: North & South — A Cold Spring
1957	Template:Sortname	Things of This World
1958	Template:Sortname	Promises: Poems 1954-1956
1959	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems 1928-1958
1960	Template:Sortname	Heart's Needle
1961	Template:Sortname	Times Three: Selected Verse From Three Decades
1962	Template:Sortname	Poems
1963	Template:Sortname	Pictures from Brueghel
1964	Template:Sortname	At the End of the Open Road	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1965	Template:Sortname	77 Dream Songs
1966	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems
1967	Template:Sortname	Live or Die	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1968	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1969	Template:Sortname	Of Being Numerous
1970	Template:Sortname	Untitled Subjects
1971	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1972	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems
1973	Template:Sortname	Up Country
1974	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
1975	Template:Sortname	Turtle Island
1976	Template:Sortname	Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1977	Template:Sortname	Divine Comedies
1978	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems
1979	Template:Sortname	Now and Then

1980s

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 1980–1989<ref name=":0" />

Year	Poet	Title	Result	Ref.
1980	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Goshawk, Antelope	Finalist
1981	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems	Finalist
1982	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Dream Flights	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
1983	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Monolithos, Poems 1962 and 1982	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Country Music, Selected Early Poems	Finalist
1984	Template:Sortname	American Primitive	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Weather-Fear: New and Selected Poems	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems, 1930-1982	Finalist
1985	Template:Sortname	Yin	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Ground Work	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
1986	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Saints and Strangers	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems, 1963-1983	Finalist
1987	Template:Sortname	Thomas and Beulah	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Unending Blues	Finalist
1988	Template:Sortname	Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 and Next: New Poems	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Flesh and Blood	Finalist
1989	Template:Sortname	New and Collected Poems	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist

1990s

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 1990–1999<ref name=":0" />

Year	Poet	Title	Result	Ref.
1990	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Time's Power	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Selected and Last Poems	Finalist
1991	Template:Sortname	Near Changes	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Leaving Another Kingdom	Finalist
1992	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
1993	Template:Sortname	Template:SortTemplate:Refn	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Hotel Lautreamont	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Selected Poems 1946-1985	Finalist
1994	Template:Sortname	Neon Vernacular: New and Selected PoemsTemplate:Refn	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Bright Existence	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
1995	Template:Sortname	Template:SortTemplate:Refn	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	On the Great Atlantic Rainway: Selected Poems 1950-1988 and One Train	Finalist
1996	Template:Sortname	Template:SortTemplate:Refn	Winner
	Template:Sortname	New and Selected Poems	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Chickamauga	Finalist
1997	Template:Sortname	Alive Together: New and Selected PoemsTemplate:Refn	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
1998	Template:Sortname	Black Zodiac	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Desire	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
1999	Template:Sortname	Blizzard of One	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Mysteries of Small Houses	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Going Fast	Finalist

2000s

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 2000–2009<ref name=":0" />

Year	Poet	Title	Result	Ref.
2000	Template:Sortname	Repair	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Elegy for the Southern Drawl	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Midnight Salvage: Poems 1995-1998	Finalist
2001	Template:Sortname	Different Hours	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Pursuit of a Wound	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
2002	Template:Sortname	Practical Gods	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
2003	Template:Sortname	Moy Sand and Gravel	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Music Like Dirt	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Hazmat	Finalist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2004	Template:Sortname	Walking to Martha's Vineyard	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Middle Earth	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Eyeshot	Finalist
2005	Template:Sortname	Delights & Shadows	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Search Party: Collected Poems	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2006	Template:Sortname	Late Wife	Winner
	Template:Sortname	American Sublime	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Elegy on Toy Piano	Finalist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2007	Template:Sortname	Native Guard	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Interrogation Palace: New & Selected Poems 1982-2004	Finalist
2008	Template:Sortname	Time and Materials	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Failure	Winner
	Template:Sortname	Messenger: New and Selected Poems, 1976-2006	Finalist
2009	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Watching the Spring Festival	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	What Love Comes To: New & Selected Poems	Finalist

2010s

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 2010–2019<ref name=":0" />

Year	Poet	Title	Result	Ref.
2010	Template:Sortname	Versed	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Tryst	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Inseminating the Elephant	Finalist
2011	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Break the Glass	Finalist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2012	Template:Sortname	Life on Mars	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Core Samples from the World	Finalist	<ref name=":3" />
	Template:Sortname	How Long	Finalist	<ref name=":3" />
2013	Template:Sortname	Stag's Leap	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems	Finalist	<ref name=":6" />
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist	<ref name=":6" />
2014	Template:Sortname	3 Sections	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Finalist
2015	Template:Sortname	Digest	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Reel to Reel	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Compass Rose	Finalist
2016	Template:Sortname	Ozone Journal	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Four-Legged Girl	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Alive: New and Selected Poems	Finalist
2017	Template:Sortname	Olio	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	XX	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Collected Poems: 1950-2012	Finalist
2018	Template:Sortname	Half-light: Collected Poems 1965–2016	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	semiautomatic,	Finalist	<ref name=":4" />
	Template:Sortname	Incendiary Art	Finalist	<ref name=":4" />
2019	Template:Sortname	Be With	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	feeld	Finalist	<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" />
	Template:Sortname	Like	Finalist	<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" />

2020s

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners, 2020–present<ref name=":0" />

Year	Poet	Title	Result	Ref.
2020	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Only as the Day Is Long: New and Selected Poems	Finalist	<ref name=":1" />
	Template:Sortname	Dunce	Finalist	<ref name=":1" />
2021	Template:Sortname	Postcolonial Love Poem	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	A Treatise on Stars	Finalist	<ref name=":1" />
	Template:Sortname	In the Lateness of the World	Finalist	<ref name=":1" />
2022	Template:Sortname	frank: sonnets	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":8">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Refractive Africa: Ballet of the Forgotten	Finalist	<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" />
	Template:Sortname	Yellow Rain	Finalist	<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" />
2023	Template:Sortname	Then the War: and Selected Poems, 2007–2020	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Still Life	Finalist	<ref name=":02" />
	Template:Sortname	Blood Snow	Finalist	<ref name=":02" />
2024	Template:Sortname	Tripas: Poems	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	To 2040	Finalist	<ref name="Pulitzer2024" />
	Template:Sortname	Information Desk: An Epic	Finalist	<ref name="Pulitzer2024" />
2025	Template:Sortname	New and Selected Poems	Winner
	Template:Sortname	An Authentic Life	Finalist
	Template:Sortname	Bluff: Poems	Finalist

Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals received two or more Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry (The 1918 and 1919 Special Prizes are included):

Wins	Poet	Years
4	Robert Frost	1924, 1931, 1937, 1943
3	Edwin Arlington Robinson	1922, 1925, 1928
2	Stephen Vincent Benét	1929, 1944
	Robert Lowell	1947, 1974
	Archibald MacLeish	1933, 1953
	William S. Merwin	1971, 2009
	Carl Sandburg	1919, 1951
	Robert Penn Warren	1958, 1979
	Richard Wilbur	1957, 1989

The following individuals received two or more nominations:

Bolded years are years that the poet won

Nominations	Poet	Years
5	Charles Wright	1982, 1983, 1985, 1996, 1998
4	Frank Bidart	1998, 2003, 2009, 2018
	Robert Frost	1924, 1931, 1937, 1943
	Adrienne Rich	1990, 1992, 2000, 2017
3	Edwin Arlington Robinson	1922, 1925, 1928
	Charles Simic	1986, 1987, 1990
2	John Ashbery	1976, 1993
	Stephen Vincent Benét	1929, 1944
	Forrest Gander	2012, 2019
	Jack Gilbert	1983, 2013
	Louise Glück	1993, 2002
	Anthony Hecht	1968, 1991
	Richard Hugo	1980, 1981
	Donald Justice	1980, 1996
	Robert Lowell	1947, 1974
	Archibald MacLeish	1933, 1953
	James Merril	1977, 1993
	William S. Merwin	1971, 2009
	Carl Sandburg	1919, 1951
	Diane Seuss	2016, 2022
	Mark Strand	1981, 1999
	Dave Smith	1980, 1982
	Robert Penn Warren	1958, 1979
	Richard Wilbur	1957, 1989
	C.K. Williams	1988, 1998
	Franz Wright	2002, 2004

Robert Frost won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times from 1924 to 1943. Edwin Arlington Robinson won three prizes during the 1920s and several people, all male, have won two.

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

Only four women have had multiple nominations: Adrienne Rich with 4, and Louise Glück, Jorie Graham and Diane Seuss with 2 each.

See also

• American poetry
• List of poetry awards

External links

• Template:Commons category inline