The Robert Creeley Foundation was a poetry foundation based in Acton, Massachusetts, dedicated to honoring the legacy of American poet Robert Creeley. [1] The Foundation presented the Robert Creeley Award to a nationally recognized poet each year, and it had an active role in promoting poetry and the arts in the local community, particularly via close relationships with the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and Acton Memorial Library. The Foundation ceased operations in 2018.
The award and foundation stem from a "chance meeting" between Robert Clawson and Robert Creeley in late 2000. [2]
Robert Creeley participated in selecting the award winners until his death in 2005. [3]
The following are the winners of the Robert Creeley Award: [4]
The Foundation also awarded the Helen Creeley Student Poetry Prize to honor Robert Creeley's older sister Helen, a prize-winning poet while she was a high school student, who was an early mentor to Robert. [13] The prize was awarded to one or two Massachusetts high school students each year.
Students received a monetary prize and also the opportunity to read their work as an opener to the Robert Creeley Award winner.
The past winners of the Helen Creeley Student Poetry Prize are: [14]