Walt Whitman Award

The Walt Whitman Award
Awarded forEncourage the work of emerging poets and to enable the publication of a poet’s first book
CountryUnited States
Presented byAcademy of American Poets
First awarded1975
Websitepoets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/walt-whitman-award

The Walt Whitman Award is a poetry award administered by the Academy of American Poets.[1][2][3][4] Named after poet Walt Whitman, the award is based on a competition of book-length poetry manuscripts by American poets who have not yet published a book.[5] It has been described as "a transformative honor that includes publication and distribution of the book though the Academy, $5,000 in cash and an all-expenses-paid [six-week] residency" at the Civitella Ranieri Center in the Umbrian region of Italy.

The Library of Congress includes the Walt Whitman Award among distinctions noted for poets,[6] as does The New York Times, which also occasionally publishes articles about new awards.[7]

The award was established in 1975. In a New York Times opinion piece from 1985, the novelist John Barth noted that 1475 manuscripts had been entered into one of the Whitman Award competitions, which exceeded the number of subscribers to some poetry journals.[8] Since 1992, Louisiana State University Press has published each volume as part of its "Walt Whitman Award Series";[9] the Academy purchases and distributes copies to its associate members, along with copies of the winning volume for the James Laughlin Award.[10] 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.[11]

  1. ^ Nancy Breen, ed. (2007). 2008 Poet's Market. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. p. 412. ISBN 978-1-58297-499-6.
  2. ^ "Walt Whitman Award | Poets & Writers". Archived from the original on 2009-07-12. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  3. ^ "Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets: BOOKS IN THIS SERIES". LSU Press. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07.
  4. ^ "Walt Whitman Award". awardsandhonors.
  5. ^ "Walt Whitman Award". Academy of American Poets. Archived from the original on 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  6. ^ "Authors Jared Carter and Debra Magpie Earling To Read on Dec. 9". The Library of Congress. December 6, 2004.
  7. ^ Blog, Newoldage. "Walt Whitman Award - NYTimes.com Search". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  8. ^ Barth, John (June 16, 1985). "Writing: Can It Be Taught?". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "Series: Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets". Louisiana State University Press. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  10. ^ "Membership". Academy of American Poets. Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  11. ^ JUDITH MILLER (December 2, 1996). "As Arts Prizes Multiply, So Do Doubts on Value". The New York Times.