The Walt Whitman Award is a poetry award administered by the Academy of American Poets

Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...

. Named after poet Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...

, the award is based on a competition of book-length poetry manuscripts by American poets who have not yet published a book. It has been described as "a transformative honor that includes publication and distribution of the book though the Academy, $5,000 in cash and a one-month residency at the Vermont Studio Center." The Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 includes the Award among distinctions noted for poets, as does the Poetry Foundation

Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly....

 and The New York Times, which also occasionally publishes articles about new awards.

The award was established in 1975. In a New York Times opinion piece from 1985, the novelist John Barth

John Barth

John Simmons Barth is an American novelist and short-story writer, known for the postmodernist and metafictive quality of his work.-Life:...

 noted that 1475 manuscripts had been entered into one of the Whitman Award competitions, which exceeded the number of subscribers to some poetry journals. Since 1992, Louisiana State University Press has published each volume as part of its "Walt Whitman Award Series"; the Academy purchases and distributes copies to its associate members, along with copies of the winning volume for the James Laughlin Award. Since the academy buys 6,000 copies for its members, and the average print run for a poet's first book is 3,000 copies, a Whitman Award guarantees a best seller in the tiny poetry market.

Year	Poet	Book	Judge
2011	Elana Bell	Eyes, Stones (LSU Press)	Fanny Howe
2010	Carl Adamshick	Curses and Wishes (LSU Press)	Marvin Bell
2009	J. Michael Martinez J. Michael Martinez -Life:J. Michael Martinez was born and raised in Greeley, Colorado. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, and George Mason University, with an MFA in creative writing. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D...	Heredities (LSU Press)	Juan Felipe Herrera
2008	Jonathan Thirkield Jonathan Thirkield -Life:Thirkield was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from Wesleyan University, and was a Truman Capote Fellow at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop...	The Waker's Corridor (LSU Press)	Linda Bierds
2007	Sally Van Doren Sally Van Doren -Life:She is related to Charles Van Doren.She was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a graduate of Phillips Academy and Princeton University and received an M.F.A. from the University of Missouri-St. Louis....	Sex at Noon Taxes (LSU Press)	August Kleinzahler
2006	Anne Pierson Wiese Anne Pierson Wiese -Life:She grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of Amherst College and New York University. She works, and lives in Manhattan with her husband....	Floating City (LSU Press)	Kay Ryan
2005	Mary Rose O'Reilley Mary Rose O'Reilley -Life:She was born in Pampa, Texas, and educated in Roseville and Saint Paul, Minnesota. She was raised a Catholic, and served as a novice in a religious community. She is now a member of the Religious Society of Friends . She has spent time in Buddhist practice, in particular under Thich Nhat...	Half Wild (LSU Press)	Mary Oliver
2004	Geri Doran Geri Doran Geri Doran was born in Kalispell, Montana in 1966. Doran has attended Vassar College, the University of Cambridge, the University of Florida , and Stanford University, where she held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Poetry...	Resin (LSU Press)	Henri Cole
2003	Tony Tost Tony Tost Tony Tost is an American poet. His first book Invisible Bride won the 2003 Walt Whitman Award judged by C.D. Wright.Tost was born in Springfield, Missouri, and raised in Enumclaw, Washington. He is a graduate of Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington, and College of the Ozarks in...	Invisible Bride (LSU Press)	C D. Wright
2002	Sue Kwock Kim	Notes from the Divided Country (LSU Press)	Yusef Komunyakaa
2001	John Canaday John Canaday John Edwin Canaday was a leading American art critic, author and art historian.-Early life:...	The Invisible World (LSU Press)	Sherod Santos
2000	Ben Doller Ben Doller Ben Doller is an American poet & writer.-Life:He graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego, and West Virginia University....	Radio, Radio (LSU Press)	Susan Howe
1999	Judy Jordan Judy Jordan -Life:She grew up on a small farm near the Carolina border.Her parents were sharecroppers, and she was picking cotton by the time she was 5. She was the first member of her family to attend college, with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 1990, and a Master of Fine Arts degree...	Carolina Ghost Woods (LSU Press)	James Tate
1998	Jan Heller Levi Jan Heller Levi Jan Heller Levi is a poet who teaches at .-Life:She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Levi is the recipient of the for her first book, Once I Gazed at You in Wonder...	Once I Gazed at You in Wonder (LSU Press)	Alice Fulton
1997	Barbara Ras Barbara Ras Barbara Ras is an American poet, translator and publisher. Her most recent poetry collection is The Last Skin , which was preceded by One Hidden Stuff , and her first collection is Bite Every Sorrow .-Life:She graduated from Simmons College, and University...	Bite Every Sorrow (LSU Press)	C. K. Williams
1996	Joshua Clover Joshua Clover Joshua Clover is a poet, critic, journalist and author. He has appeared in three editions of Best American Poetry, is a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize, and recipient of an individual grant from the NEA; his first book of poetry, Madonna anno domini, received the Walt Whitman Award from the...	Madonna anno domini (LSU Press)	Jorie Graham
1995	Nicole Cooley Nicole Cooley Nicole Ruth Cooley is an American poet. Her most recent poetry collection is Breach . Her work has appeared in Poetry, Field, Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, The Paris Review, PEN America, The Missouri Review, The Nation, and Pedagogy...	Resurrection (LSU Press)	Cynthia Macdonald
1994	Jan Richman Jan Richman -Life:She graduated from the NYU Graduate Creative Writing Program.In 2001, Jan Richman and Beth Lisick presented a benefit "Poetry & Pizza," by 9x9 Industries. She worked at SF Gate, the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle...	Because the Brain Can Be Talked into Anything (LSU Press)	Robert Pinsky
1993	Alison Hawthorne Deming Alison Hawthorne Deming Alison Hawthorne Deming is an American poet, and essayist.-Life:Deming is a descendant of Nathaniel Hawthorne. She worked in health care for fifteen years.She graduated in 1983 with a M.F.A...	Science and Other Poems (LSU Press)	Gerald Stern
1992	Stephen Yenser Stephen Yenser Stephen Yenser is an American poet. He is also a literary critic who has written books on James Merrill, Robert Lowell, and an assortment of contemporary poets and co-literary executor with J.D. McClatchy for James Merrill...	The Fire in All Things (LSU Press)	Richard Howard
1991	Greg Glazner Greg Glazner -Life:He graduated from Hardin-Simmons University, and the University of Montana, with an M.A. and M.F.A.His work has appeared in Poetry, Ironwood, The Laurel Review, New England Journal, Pequod, Quarterly West, The Southern Poetry Review, and The Texas Review...	From the Iron Chair (W. W. Norton)	Charles Wright
1990	Elaine Terranova Elaine Terranova -Life:She is the son of Nathan and Sadie Goldstein, She graduated from Temple University in 1961, and Goddard College, Master’s degree in 1977.She married her first husband, Philip Terranova, in 1961....	The Cult of the Right Hand (Doubleday)	Rita Dove
1989	Martha Hollander Martha Hollander -Life:She is the daughter of John Hollander.She graduated from Yale University in 1980, with a B.A. in the History of Art cum laude, and from University of California at Berkley with M.A. and Ph.D. History of Art...	The Game of Statues (Atlantic Monthly Press)	W.S. Merwin
1988	April Bernard April Bernard April Bernard is an American poet. She was born and raised in New England, and graduated from Harvard University. She has worked as a senior editor at Vanity Fair, Premiere, and Manhattan, inc. In the early 1990s, she taught at Amherst College. In Fall 2003, she was Sidney Harman...	Blackbird Bye Bye (Random House)	Amy Clampitt
1987	Judith Baumel Judith Baumel -Life:She grew up in New York City, attending the Bronx High School of Science. She graduated from Radcliffe College, magna cum laude, studying with Robert Lowell, Robert Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Shaw, James Richardson, and Jane Shore. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University,...	The Weight of Numbers (Wesleyan U. Press)	Mona Van Duyn
1986	Chris Llewellyn Chris Llewellyn (poet) -Life:She graduated from Warren Wilson College.Her work appeared in Pudding House.She married Justice Department lawyer Edward Bordley. They live in a small Northeast Washington, D.C. apartment, and have a daughter, Elizabeth Bordley.-External links:...	Fragments from the Fire (Viking)	Maxine Kumin
1985	Christianne Balk Christianne Balk -Life:She graduated in biology with honors from Grinnell College.Her work has appeared in Pequod, Crazy Horse, Sulfur, The Centennial review The Missouri Review, Sonora Review, Prairie Schooner Harper's, and The New Yorker....	Bindweed (Macmillan)	Anthony Hecht
1984	Eric Pankey Eric Pankey -Life:He graduated from the University of Missouri and Iowa University with his MFA in 1981.He directed the Creative Writing Program at Washington University in St...	For the New Year (Atheneum)	Mark Strand
1983	Christopher Gilbert Christopher Gilbert -Life:He is the son of Floyd and Rosie Gilbert.He grew up in Lansing, Michigan.He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972, and PhD...	Across the Mutual Landscape (Graywolf Press)	Michael S. Harper
1982	Anthony Petrosky Anthony Petrosky Anthony Petrosky is an American poet, and professor.-Life:He received a doctorate from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.He is associate dean of University of Pittsburgh School of Education....	Jurgis Petraskas (Louisiana State University Press)	Philip Levine
1981	Alberto Ríos Alberto Ríos Alberto Álvaro Ríos is an American author of nine books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir. He is a Regents' professor of English at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona...	Whispering to Fool the Wind (Sheep Meadow Press)	Donald Justice
1980	Jared Carter Jared Carter -Background:Carter studied at Yale and at Goddard College. After military service and travel abroad, he made his home in Indianapolis, where he has lived since 1969...	Work, for the Night is Coming (Macmillan)	Galway Kinnell
1979	David Bottoms David Bottoms David Bottoms is an American poet.-Biography:Bottoms' first book, Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump, was selected by Robert Penn Warren as winner of the 1979 Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets...	Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump (Morrow)	Robert Penn Warren
1978	Karen Snow Karen Snow Karen Snow is an American poet. Her work has appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, Chowder Review, Montserrat Review, Heartland, Michigan Quarterly Review, Lake Superior Review, ANON, Prairie Schooner, North American Review. In 1978 she received the Walt Whitman Award.-References:...	Wonders (Viking)	Louis Simpson
1977	Lauren Shakely Lauren Shakely Lauren Shakely is an American poet, editor, and publisher.-Life:Her grandfather was Federal Appeals Judge Warren L...	Guilty Bystander (Random House)	Diane Wakoski
1976	Laura Gilpin Laura Gilpin Laura Gilpin was an American photographer known for her photographs of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo and Pueblo, and her Southwestern landscapes.-Life:...	The Hocus-Pocus of the Universe (Doubleday)	William Stafford
1975	Reg Saner Reg Saner -Life:He graduated from St. Norbert College, near Green Bay, Wisconsin.He served as an infantry platoon leader in the Korean War.He studied at University of Illinois, an received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at University of Florence....	Climbing into the Roots (Harper & Row)	William Meredith