James Longenbach, the Joseph H. Gilmore Professor of English, was awarded the 1995 "Discovery" prize for poetry by The Nation magazine.
Longenbach was one of four poets selected as finalists from 1,322 manuscripts. The "Discovery" awards are co-sponsored by the Unterberg Poetry Center and The Nation magazine. The contest is restricted to poets who have not yet had a book of their poems published. The award is designed to give emerging poets access to a larger audience. The four finalists are awarded $300, a reading at the Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City and publication in The Nation. Past winners of the award have included Lucille Clifton, Marilyn Hacker, Daniel Halpern, Katha Pollitt, Mary Jo Salter and Mark Strand.
Longenbach submitted a total of eight poems in his ten-page entry to the competition. "I just chose what I thought was my best work. The poems were not chosen with any consideration to a broader thematic construction," said Longenbach. Previously Longenbach's poetry has been published in magazines such as Raritan, The Paris Review, The Yale Review and The Southwest Review.
###