The PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry of $5,000 is given in odd-numbered years and alternates with the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry. The Osterweil Award recognizes the high literary character of the published work to date of a new and emerging American poet of any age and the promise of further literary achievement. Poets nominated for the award may not have published more than one book of poetry.
Past winners: Peter Covino, Nick Flynn, Richard Matthews, Dana Levin, and Yerra Sugarman
How to Nominate
A panel of three judges, selected by the PEN Awards Committee, accepts letters of nomination from PEN members only, and will request supporting materials from the nominators only for short-listed candidates. Judges will also be permitted to supplement the list of candidates with nominations of their own.
All letters of nomination (one to two pages is expected) should describe the literary character of the candidate's work, and summarize the candidate's publications to date. Most importantly, nominations should articulate the degree of promise which the nominated poet's work indicates.
Deadline for nominations: Nominations must be received between September 1, 2008 and January 16, 2009. Early submissions are strongly recommended.
Send all correspondence after September 1, 2008 to:
PEN/Osterweil Award for Poetry
PEN American Center
588 Broadway, Suite 303
New York, NY 10012
For more information on the PEN Literary Awards, call: (212) 334-1660 ext. 108 or e-mail awards@pen.org.
