Poets & Writers has awarded the 2021 Jackson Poetry Prize to Carl Phillips, professor of English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Endowed by philanthropists John and Susan Jackson, the annual prize carries a monetary award of $75,000 and aims to provide poets with the time and encouragement to write.
Phillips, the author of 15 books of poetry, was selected by a jury of three poets — Jericho Brown, Carolyn Forché and Juan Felipe Herrera — from a group of 19 nominees. In their citation, the judges praised Phillips for producing “poems that sustain our contemplation, disrupt our complacencies, and leave us changed.”
Founded in 1970, Poets & Writers is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers. The group will honor Phillips with a virtual celebration on June 29. For more information, visit pw.org.
