2018 Poets’ Prize awarded to California’s poet laureate

A cause for celebration: California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia’s 2016 book, 99 Poems: New & Selected, has been chosen as the winner of this year’s Poets’ Prize. The award, administered by Lake Forest College, is presented annually to the best book of verse by an American author published within the two years prior.

99 Poems: New & Selected features 12 new poems juxtaposed with work spanning Gioia’s career, most notably examining life’s more solemn experiences of death, time, mortality, grief, love, and family.

“I’m deeply pleased to have the book recognized by this fine award. It is a pleasure to be prized,” Gioia said in a statement.

Gioia also won a Poets’ Prize in 1992 for his book The Gods of Winter, making him the first recipient in the prize’s 30-year history to be honored on two separate occasions for different works.

He will be recognized at an award ceremony and reception on May 18 in New York.

From all of us here at the CAC, congratulations!

As California’s poet laureate, Gioia’s been on the road as “poetry’s public servant” and making a visit to every county in California. To see pictures from Gioia’s travels and learn more about past and upcoming events, visit http://capoetlaureate.net.