Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

Awarded annually, the $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize honors a living US poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition. Established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly, the prize is one of the most prestigious awards given to American poets.

2023 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

Headshot of Kimiko Hahn
2023Kimiko Hahn

Kimiko Hahn is the author of 10 books of poetry, including Foreign Bodies (W. W. Norton, 2020); Brain Fever (Norton, 2014); Toxic Flora (Norton, 2010)...

2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Headshot of poet Sandra Cisneros
    2022Sandra Cisneros

    Sandra Cisneros is a poet, a short story writer, a novelist, and an essayist who explores the lives of working-class people. Her numerous awards include...

  • Headshot of poet CA Conrad
    2022CAConrad

    CAConrad has worked with the ancient technologies of poetry and ritual since 1975. As a young poet, they lived in Philadelphia, where they lost many loved...

  • Headshot of poet Rita Dove
    2022Rita Dove

    Rita Dove (she/her) was born in Akron, Ohio in 1952. A 1970 Presidential Scholar, she attended Miami University of Ohio, Universität Tübingen in Germany...

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    2022Nikki Giovanni

    Poet Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated with a degree in history from Fisk...

  • Image of Juan Felipe Herrera
    2022Juan Felipe Herrera

    The son of farmworkers, poet Juan Felipe Herrera was born in Fowler, California, in 1948. He is a graduate of UCLA, Stanford University, and the University...

  • Headshot of poet Angela Jackson
    2022Angela Jackson

    Angela Jackson is a Chicago poet, playwright, and novelist. She has received numerous honors for both fiction and poetry, including the 2022 Ruth Lilly...

  • Haki Madhubuti.jpg
    2022Haki R. Madhubuti

    Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti, poet, author, publisher, and educator, is regarded as an architect of the Black Arts Movement and is founder and publisher of Chicago...

  • Image of Sharon Olds
    2022Sharon Olds

    Poet Sharon Olds was born in 1942 in San Francisco and grew up in Berkeley, California where she was raised, she has said, as a “hellfire Calvinist.” ...

  • Headshot of poet Sonia Sanchez
    2022Sonia Sanchez

    Sonia Sanchez was born in 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama. She earned her BA in political science from Hunter College in 1955, did postgraduate work at New...

  • Headshot of Patti Smith
    2022Patti Smith

    Patti Smith was born in Chicago, raised in South Jersey, and moved to New York City in 1967. Her extensive achievements as a performer, an author, and...

  • Black and white portrait of poet Arthur Sze
    2022Arthur Sze

    Arthur Sze is a poet, a translator, and an editor. He is the author of 11 books of poetry, including The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems ...

2021 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Poet Patricia Smith wearing a beaded necklace and smiling with her hand on her chin
    2021Patricia Smith

    Patricia Smith (she/her) has been called “a testament to the power of words to change lives.” She is the author of Unshuttered (Northwestern University...

2020 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Marilyn Chin
    2020Marilyn Chin

    Marilyn Chin was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She earned a BA in Chinese literature from the University of Massachusetts and an ...

2019 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Black and white portrait of Marilyn Nelson in a shirt with a fenced background
    2019Marilyn Nelson

    Marilyn Nelson was born in Cleveland, Ohio, into a military family: she is the daughter of one of the last of the Tuskegee Airmen. Her mother was a teacher...

2018 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Black and white photo of the poet Martín Espada.
    2018Martín Espada

    As a poet, essayist, translator, editor, and attorney, Martín Espada has dedicated much of his career to the pursuit of social justice, including fighting...

2017 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Joy Harjo
    2017Joy Harjo

    Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She earned her BA from the University of New Mexico and MFA from...

2016 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Ed Roberson
    2016Ed Roberson

    Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Ed Roberson studied painting in his youth and was educated at the University of Pittsburgh. His extensive travels inform...

2015 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

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    2015Alice Notley

    Alice Notley has become one of America’s greatest living poets. She has long written in narrative and epic and genre-bending modes to discover new ways...

2014 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Headshot of poet Nathaniel Mackey.
    2014Nathaniel Mackey

    Born in Miami and raised in Southern California, poet, novelist, editor, and critic Nathaniel Mackey earned his BA from Princeton University and his PhD...

2013 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Portrait of Marie Ponsot, poet, literary critic and essayist, in her kitchen in the morning. Queens, New York. April 23, 1988.
    2013Marie Ponsot

    Born in New York, poet and translator Marie Ponsot was the daughter of a teacher and a wine importer and was raised Catholic, a faith she kept her whole...

2012 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • W. S. Di Piero
    2012W. S. Di Piero

    W.S. Di Piero was born in 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and earned his BA from St. Joseph’s College and MA from San Francisco State College. A poet...

2011 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Black and white headshot of poet David Ferry.
    2011David Ferry

    David Ferry is an acclaimed American poet, professor, and translator. Ferry’s translations, which include some of the world's major works of poetry, are...

2010 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • 2010Eleanor Ross Taylor

    Eleanor Ross Taylor was born in 1920 in Norwood, North Carolina, and graduated from Women’s College, now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro...

2009 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Portrait of Fanny Howe
    2009Fanny Howe

    Fanny Howe is the author of more than 20 books of poetry and prose. Howe grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and studied at Stanford University. “If ...

2008 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Poet Gary Snyder is honored during the 11th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony at The California Museum on December 5, 2017 in Sacramento, California.
    2008Gary Snyder

    Gary Snyder began his career in the 1950s as a noted member of the “Beat Generation,” though he has since explored a wide range of social and spiritual...

2007 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • SM-Poets- 03/22/06- St. Mary's City, MD- Poets Edward Hirsch and Lucille Clifton speak on Why Poetry Matters. Clifton answers question from the group. By James M Thresher-TWP 178587
    2007Lucille Clifton

    Lucille Clifton was born in 1936 in DePew, New York, and grew up in Buffalo. She studied at Howard University, before transferring to SUNY Fredonia, near...

2006 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Photograph of Richard Wilbur sitting in front of bookshelves in a suit.
    2006Richard Wilbur

    Richard Wilbur was born on March 1, 1921 in New York City. One of the most lauded and honored poets of 20th century American verse, Wilbur was the second...

2005 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Headshot of poet C.K. Williams in front of plants.
    2005C. K. Williams

    Hailed by poet Paul Muldoon in the Times Literary Supplement as “one of the most distinguished poets of his generation,” C.K. Williams created a highly...

2004 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Kay Ryan
    2004Kay Ryan

    Born in California in 1945 and acknowledged as one of the most original voices in the contemporary landscape, Kay Ryan is the author of several books ...

2003 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Portrait of Carina Romano in a green sweater, leaning forward  in a pensive position with her left hand under her chin.
    2003Linda Pastan

    Poet Linda Pastan was raised in New York City but has lived for most of her life in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. In her senior year ...

2002 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Lisel Mueller
    2002Lisel Mueller

    Poet and translator Lisel Mueller was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1924. The daughter of teachers, she and her family were forced to flee the Nazi regime...

2001 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

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    2001Yusef Komunyakaa

    Yusef Komunyakaa was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana. The son of a carpenter, Komunyakaa has said that he was first alerted to the power of language through...

2000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Headshot of poet Carl Dennis.
    2000Carl Dennis

    Carl Dennis was born in 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a BA from the University of Minnesota and a PhD from the University of California-Berkeley...

1999 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Headshot of poet Maxine Kumin in front of a body of water.
    1999Maxine Kumin

    An enduring presence in American poetry, Maxine Kumin’s career spanned over half a century. Maxine Kumin (née Winokur) was born to a Reform Jewish family...

1998 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • CANADA - JUNE 07: W.S. Merwin U.S. Poet
    1998W. S. Merwin

    William Stanley (W.S.) Merwin was born in New York City in 1927 and raised in New Jersey and Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of a Presbyterian minister...

1996 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Black and white headshot of poet William Matthews.
    1996William Matthews

    William Matthews was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He earned a BA from Yale and MFA from the University of North Carolina. The author of eleven books of poetry...

1995 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Portrait of A. R .Ammons
    1995A. R. Ammons

    Archibald Randolph (A.R.) Ammons was born in rural North Carolina on February 18, 1926. His experiences growing up on a cotton and tobacco farm during...

1994 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of the poet Donald Hall.
    1994Donald Hall

    Donald Hall was considered one of the major American poets of his generation. His poetry explores the longing for a more bucolic past and reflects the...

1993 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Charles Wright
    1993Charles Wright

    Charles Wright is often ranked as one of the best American poets of his generation. Born in 1935 in Pickwick Dam, Tennessee, Wright attended Davidson ...

1992 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

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    1992John Ashbery

    John Ashbery was recognized as one of the greatest 20th-century American poets. He won nearly every major American award for poetry, including the Pulitzer...

1991 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Side profile of poet David Wagoner, with his hand over his mouth.
    1991David Wagoner

    David Wagoner was recognized as the leading poet of the Pacific Northwest, often compared to his early mentor Theodore Roethke, and highly praised for...

1990 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Headshot of poet Hayden Carruth, with a hand on his beard.
    1990Hayden Carruth

    "Now and then a poet comes along whose work ranges across wide and diverse territories of form, attitude, and emotion—yet with the necessary intelligence...

1989 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Black and white headshot of poet Mona van Duyn.
    1989Mona Van Duyn

    Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mona Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa and raised in Eldora, Iowa. She earned a BA from Iowa State Teachers College and ...

1988 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Anthony Hecht
    1988Anthony Hecht

    Anthony Hecht was a renowned poet and critic. A longtime professor of poetry at the University of Rochester, Hecht also taught at institutions such as...

1987 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Image of Philip Levine
    1987Philip Levine

    Philip Levine was one of the leading poetic voices of his generation, “a large, ironic Whitman of the industrial heartland,” according to Edward Hirsch...

1986 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize RECIPIENT

  • Black and white photograph of Adrienne Rich sitting at a desk, surrounded by piles of books.
    1986Adrienne Rich

    During her life, poet and essayist Adrienne Rich was one of America’s foremost public intellectuals. Widely read and hugely influential, Rich’s career...