Awards
Annual Awards
The PSA's Annual Awards are among the most prestigious honors available to poets. They offer emerging and established poets recognition at all stages of their careers, including our student poetry award and book awards for publishers.
Poetry Society of America Book Award
Norma Farber First Book Award, $500
For a first book of original poetry written by a living author who lives in the United States or is a U.S. citizen. The book must be published in either a hard or soft cover in a standard edition in 2021. Translations are ineligible, as are chapbooks. A $500 cash prize goes to the author. The PSA will purchase the winning book at a 40% trade discount off the retail price, to be made available to our membership.
Judged by Mark Bibbins
Established by the family and friends of Norma Farber, poet and author of children's books.
William Carlos Williams Award, $500
For a book of poetry written by a living author who lives in the United States or is a U.S. citizen. The book must be published by a small press, non-profit, or university press in a standard edition in 2021. Translations are ineligible, as are chapbooks. A $500 cash prize goes to the author. The PSA will purchase the winning book at a 40% trade discount off the retail price, to be made available to our membership.
Judged by Erika Meitner
Endowed by the family and friends of Geraldine Clinton Little, a poet and author of short stories and former vice-president of the PSA.
Submission Details
- Books must be submitted directly by publishers.
- Entry forms are required.
- There is a $20 entry fee per book.
- No book may be submitted to both contests.
Mailing Address
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
15 GRAMERCY PARK S
NEW YORK, NY 10003-1705
Pay Entry Fee Online
If you pay online please send books with entry form, and note payment on the form.
Book Award FeesThe Poetry Society of America is grateful to and admiring of the nation's poetry publishers for their faithful support and promotion of the art. In particular, we wish to thank the following book publishers for supporting our Annual Awards Ceremony.












Four Quartets Prize
The Four Quartets Prize is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book.
Chapbook Fellowships
Launched in 2003, the PSA's Chapbook Program publishes each winner's work as a gorgeous chapbook, allowing new voices to reach new audiences.
Frost & Shelley Awards
The Frost Medal and Shelley Memorial Award recognize lifetime and mid-career achievement in poetry. By nomination only.