Award goes to USU Press publication

Poet Lisa Williams will be recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters at this year’s annual ceremony in New York. Williams, author “The Hammered Dulcimer,” published by Utah State University Press in 1998, was selected as the recipient of a prestigious Rome Fellowship in Literature.

Awards committee member John Hollander said Williams’ contemplative poetry is some of the finest American verse of the 20th century.”Lisa Williams is winning the Rome Prize on the basis of her book published here through the Utah State University May Swenson Poetry Award series,” said Michael Spooner, director of USU Press.”It’s no secret that serious literature in America is dying of neglect,” Spooner said. “We created this series as our own small way to help keep the flame alive for poetry publishing and to keep May Swenson’s name visible before a national audience.” 

The May Swenson Poetry Award was named for May Swenson and honors her as one of America’s most vital and provocative poets of the 20th century. Swenson was born and laid to rest in Logan, Utah.Nineteen writers will receive literature awards, totaling nearly $180,000 this year. The awards honor both established and emerging writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The academy’s 250 members nominate candidates, and a rotating committee of writers selects winners.