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

*

Established 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