Founded in 1991, the O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize is the only major American prize to celebrate a poet’s excellence in both poetry and teaching. The winner receives $10,000, and is honored with a ceremony and reading at the Folger.
The Hardison Prize is amongst the top poetry prizes in the country, including the National Book Award for poetry and the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for poetry (awarded biennially by the Library of Congress), both of which carry purses of $10,000.
The winner is selected by a revolving panel of three judges, each of whom makes nominations for the prize and then selects the winner from those nominations. There is no application process.
Previous winners of the O.B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize are Mary Kinzie (2008), David Wojahn (2007), David Rivard (2006), Tony Hoagland (2005), Reginald Gibbons (2004), Cornelius Eady (2003), Ellen Bryant Voight (2002), David St. John (2001), Rachel Hadas (2000), Alan Shapiro (1999), Heather McHugh (1998), Frank Bidart (1997), Jorie Graham (1996), E. Ethelbert Miller (1995), R.H.W. Dillard (1994), John Frederick Nims (1993), Cynthia MacDonald (1992), and Brendan Galvin (1991).
