The Academy of American Poets has selected award winning poet Carolyn Forché to judge the 2016 Walt Whitman Award, a prestigious honor with many benefits.
The endowments include $5,000, a book contract with Graywolf Press, and guaranteed book sales. The Academy of American Poets will buy and distribute thousands of copies of the title, which will be published in 2017, to its members. The prize also includes a six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. In addition, the poet will be featured in American Poets magazine.
Submissions will be accepted between September 1 and November 1, 2015. The winner will be revealed in April 2016, during National Poetry Month.