National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry

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The National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, established in 1975 [1] is an annual American literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English." [2] Awards are presented annually to books published in the U.S. during the preceding calendar year in six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Memoir/Autobiography, Biography, and Criticism. [3]

Contents

Books previously published in English are not eligible, such as re-issues and paperback editions. They do consider "translations, short story and essay collections, self published books, and any titles that fall under the general categories.

The judges are the volunteer directors of the NBCC who are 24 members serving rotating three-year terms, with eight elected annually by the voting members, namely "professional book review editors and book reviewers." [4] Winners of the awards are announced each year at the NBCC awards ceremony in conjunction with the yearly membership meeting, which takes place in March.

Recipients

National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry winners and finalists
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
1975 John Ashbery Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror Winner [5]
1976 Elizabeth Bishop Geography IIIWinner [6]
1977 Robert Lowell Day by DayWinner [7]
1978 L. E. Sissman Hello, Darkness: The Collected Poems of L. E. SissmanWinner [8]
1979 Philip Levine Ashes: Poems New and Old and 7 Years From SomewhereWinner
1980 Frederick Seidel SunriseWinner [9]
1981 A.R. Ammons A Coast of TreesWinner
1982 Katha Pollitt Antarctic TravelerWinner [10]
1983 James Merrill The Changing Light at Sandover Winner
1984 Sharon Olds The Dead and the LivingWinner [11]
1985 Louise Glück The Triumph of Achilles Winner
1986 Edward Hirsch Wild GratitudeWinner [12]
1987 C.K. Williams Flesh and BloodWinner
1988 Donald Hall The One Day Winner [13]
1989 Rodney Jones Transparent GesturesWinner
1990 Amy Gerstler Bitter AngelWinner [14]
1991 Albert Goldbarth Heaven and Earth: A CosmologyWinner [15]
1992 Hayden Carruth Collected Shorter Poems 1946–1991Winner
1993 Mark Doty My AlexandriaWinner
1994 Mark Rudman RiderWinner [16]
1995 William Matthews Time and MoneyWinner
1996 Robert Hass Sun Under WoodWinner [17]
1997 Charles Wright Black ZodiacWinner
1998 Marie Ponsot The Bird CatcherWinner [18]
1999 Ruth Stone Ordinary WordsWinner [19]
2000 Judy Jordan Carolina Ghost WoodsWinner [20]
2001 Albert Goldbarth Saving LivesWinner [21]
2002 B.H. Fairchild Early Occult Memory Systems of the Lower MidwestWinner [22]
2003 Susan Stewart ColumbariumWinner [23]
2004 Adrienne Rich The School Among the RuinsWinner [24]
2005 Jack Gilbert Refusing HeavenWinner
2006 Troy Jollimore Tom Thomson in PurgatoryWinner [25]
2007 Mary Jo Bang ElegyWinner [26]
Matthea Harvey Modern LifeFinalist
Tadeusz Rózewicz New Poems
Michael O'Brien Sleeping and Waking
Tom Pickard The Ballad of Jamie Allan
2008 Juan Felipe Herrera Half the World in LightWinner (tie) [27]
August Kleinzahler Sleeping it Off in Rapid City
Brenda Shaughnessy Human Dark with SugarFinalist
August Kleinzahler Sleeping it Off in Rapid City
Devin Johnston Sources
Pierre Martory with John Ashbery (trans.)The Landscapist
2009 Rae Armantrout VersedWinner [28]
Louise Glück A Village LifeFinalist
Eleanor Ross Taylor Captive Voices: New and Selected Poems, 1960–2008
D. A. Powell Chronic
Rachel Zucker Museum of Accidents
2010 C.D. Wright One With OthersWinner [29]
Terrance Hayes LightheadFinalist
Anne Carson Nox
Kay Ryan The Best of It
Kathleen Graber The Eternal City
2011 Laura Kasischke Space, In ChainsWinner [30]
Forrest Gander Core Samples from the WorldFinalist [31]
Bruce Smith Devotions
Aracelis Girmay Kingdom Animalia
Yusef Komunyakaa The Chameleon Couch
2012 D. A. Powell Useless Landscape, or A Guide for BoysWinner [32]
David Ferry Bewilderment: New Poems and TranslationsFinalist [33]
Allan Peterson Fragile Acts
A. E. Stallings Olives
Lucia Perillo On the Spectrum of Possible Deaths
2013 Frank Bidart Metaphysical Dog Winner [34]
Denise Duhamel BlowoutFinalist [35]
Bob Hicok Elegy Owed
Carmen Gimenez Smith Milk and Filth
Lucie Brock-Broido Stay, Illusion
2014 Claudia Rankine Citizen: An American Lyric Winner [36]
Jake Adam York AbideFinalist
Christian Wiman Once in the West
Saeed Jones Prelude to Bruise
Willie Perdomo The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon
2015 Ross Gay Catalogue of Unabashed GratitudeWinner
Ada Limón Bright Dead ThingsFinalist [37]
Terrance Hayes How to Be Drawn
Sinéad Morrissey Parallax: And Selected Poems
Frank Stanford What About This: Collected Poems of Frank Stanford
2016 Ishion Hutchinson House of Lords and CommonsWinner [38]
Robert Pinsky At the Foundling HospitalFinalist [39]
Monica Youn Blackacre
Tyehimba Jess Olio
Bernadette Mayer Works and Days
2017 Layli Long Soldier WhereasWinner [40]
Ana Ristovic Directions for UseFinalist [41]
James Longenbach Earthling
Nuar Alsadir Fourth Person Singular
Frank Ormsby The Darkness of Snow
2018 Ada Limón The CarryingWinner
Terrance Hayes American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin Finalist
Adam Zagajewski with Clare Cavanagh (trans.)Asymmetry
Erika Meitner Holy Moly Carry Me
Diane Seuss Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl
2019 Morgan Parker Magical NegroWinner [42]
Ilya Kaminsky Deaf RepublicFinalist
Brian Teare Doomstead Days
Mary Ruefle Dunce
Jericho Brown The Tradition
2020 Francine J. Harris Here Is the Sweet HandWinner [43]
Danez Smith HomieFinalist [44]
Amaud Jamaul Johnson Imperial Liquor
Victoria Chang Obit
Chris Nealon The Shore
2021 Diane Seuss Frank: SonnetsWinner
B.K. Fischer CeiveFinalist [45]
Rajiv Mohabir Cultish
Donika Kelly The Renunciations: Poems
Cheswayo Mphanza The Rinehart Frames
2022 Cynthia Cruz Hotel OblivionWinner
Paul Hlava Ceballosbanana [ ]Finalist [46]
David Hernandez Hello I Must Be Going
Mosab Abu Toha Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear
Bernadette Mayer Milkweed Smithereens
2023 Kim Hyesoon Phantom Pain WingsWinner
Romeo Oriogun The Gathering of BastardsFinalist [47]
Robyn Schiff Information Desk
Charif Shanahan Trace Evidence

See also

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