We are pleased to announce the judges of the 2025 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and the 2025 James Laughlin Award.
Hayan Charara, Suzanne Gardinier, and Lisa Olstein will serve as judges for the 2025 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, which recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the U.S. in 2024. Recent winners of the prize include Ariana Benson’s Black Pastoral (University of Georgia Press, 2023) and Ama Codjoe’s Bluest Nude (Milkweed Press, 2022).
The winner of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize will receive $25,000 and a ten-day residency at Glen Hollow in Naples, NY. The Academy will purchase and distribute copies of the winning book to its members. Submissions are accepted from January 1 to May 15, 2025. Publishers are invited to learn more and submit here: poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/lenore-marshall-poetry-prize.
Tyree Daye, Richie Hofmann, and Donika Kelly will serve as judges for the 2025 James Laughlin Award, which recognizes and supports a book of poetry forthcoming in 2026. Recent winners of the award include Michelle Peñaloza’s All The Words I Can Remember Are Poems, which is forthcoming from Persea Books in 2025, and Cyrée Jarelle Johnson’s Watchnight (Nightboat Books, 2024).
The winner of the James Laughlin Award will receive $5,000 and a weeklong residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, FL. The Academy will purchase and distribute copies of the winning book to its members. Submissions are accepted from January 1 to May 15, 2025. Publishers are invited to learn more and submit here: poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/james-laughlin-award.