Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships
Five Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships in the amount of $15,000 will be awarded to young poets through a national competition sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry. Established in 1989 by the Indianapolis philanthropist Ruth Lilly, the fellowships are intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry.
APPLICANT GUIDELINES:
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
- Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 31 years of age as of March 31, 2012.
- Applications must be submitted by March 31, 2012.
- Applications must be made through our submission website, fellowships.poetryfoundation.org, according to the guidelines below. *Application materials sent via e-mail or standard mail will not be considered.
HOW TO APPLY:
FIRST, you must assemble your application materials as a SINGLE Word document. This document must include:
- An approximately 250-word introduction to your work (not to exceed one page).
- Ten pages of poems, in standard font and size [Times New Roman, 12pt]. You may include multiple poems on one page, but total pages of poems must not exceed ten.
- Publication list. (Optional. If you choose to include it, please do so as the last page of your document.)
- Name this document [LAST NAME]_[FIRST NAME].doc (example: Doe_John.doc)
THEN, proceed to our online submission manager: fellowships.poetryfoundation.org where you can upload your application!
Finalists will be notified by e-mail by August 1.
Winners will be announced on September 1.
If you have any questions, contact: lgarbutt@poetrymagazine.org
*
About the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship ProgramEstablished in 1989 by Ruth Lilly to encourage the further writing and study of poetry, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship program has dramatically expanded since its inception. Until 1995, university writing programs nationwide each nominated one student poet for a single fellowship; from 1996 until 2007, two fellowships were awarded. In 2008 the competition was opened to all U.S. poets between 21 and 31 years of age, and the number of fellowships increased to five, totaling $75,000.
Past Prize Receipts
2007
Sean Brian Bishop
Megan Grumbling
2006
Colin Cheney
David Krump
2005
Michael McGriff
Miller Oberman
2004
Nathan Bartel
Emily Moore
2002
Emily Rosko
Marc Bittner
2000
Christina Pugh
Wayne Miller
1999
Kevin Meaux
Maudelle Driskell
1998
Christine Stewart
Robin Cooper-Stone
1997
Delisa Mulkey
W. Morri Creech
1996
Erin G. Brooks
Zarina Mullan Plath
1995
Matt D. Collinsworth
1994
Christian Wiman
1993
Davis McCombs
1992
James Kimbrell
1991
Gregory A. Sellers
1990
Cathy Wagner
1991
Saskia Hamilton

