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Book Awards » National Book Award - Poetry

National Book AwardCategories: Poetry, Young Reader's Literature, General Nonfiction, Literary Fiction
The National Book Awards were first awarded in 1950 by a consortium of American book publishers. The mission of the nonprofit National Book Foundation, which now oversees the awards, is to “celebrate the best of American literature, expand its audience, and to enhance cultural value of good writing in America”. The awards are presented each Fall in 4 genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature. Winners receive a $10,000 cash prize and a crystal sculpture.

2020

DMZ Colony

2019

Sight Lines

2018

Indecency

2017

Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016
Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016
Author: Frank Bidart
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

2015

Voyage of the Sable Venus: and Other Poems
Voyage of the Sable Venus: and Other Poems
Author: Robin Coste Lewis
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

2014

Faithful and Virtuous Night: Poems
Faithful and Virtuous Night: Poems
Author: Louise GlĂĽck
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

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2013

Incarnadine: Poems
Incarnadine: Poems
Author: Mary Szybist
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover

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2012

Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations (Phoenix Poets)
Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations (Phoenix Poets)
Author: David Ferry
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover

2011

Head Off & Split: Poems
Head Off & Split: Poems
Author: Nikky Finney
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover

2010

Lighthead (Poets, Penguin)
Lighthead (Poets, Penguin)
Author: Terrance Hayes
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

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2009

Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy (New California Poetry)
Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy (New California Poetry)
Author: Keith Waldrop
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

2008

Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems
Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems
Author: Mark Doty
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

2007

Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005
Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005
Author: Robert Hass
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 3


Other Versions: Paperback

2006

Splay Anthem
Splay Anthem
Author: Nathaniel Mackey
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

2005

Migration: New & Selected Poems
Migration: New & Selected Poems
Author: W. S. Merwin
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

2004

Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003 (Wesleyan Poetry)

2003

The Singing : Poems
The Singing : Poems
Author: C. K. Williams
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

2002

In the Next Galaxy
In the Next Galaxy
Author: Ruth Stone
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

2001

Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry
Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry
Author: Alan Dugan
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

2000

Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 (American Poets Continuum Series, Vol. 60.)
Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 (American Poets Continuum Series, Vol. 60.)
Author: Lucille Clifton
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

1999

Vice: New and Selected Poems
Vice: New and Selected Poems
Author: Ai
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

1998

This Time: New and Selected Poems
This Time: New and Selected Poems
Author: Gerald Stern
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover

1997

Effort at Speech: New and Selected Poems
Effort at Speech: New and Selected Poems
Author: William Meredith
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover

1996

Scrambled Eggs  Whiskey: Poems, 1991-1995
Scrambled Eggs Whiskey: Poems, 1991-1995
Author: Hayden Carruth
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1995

Passing Through: The Later Poems New and Selected
Passing Through: The Later Poems New and Selected
Author: Stanley Kunitz
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Hardcover

1994

Worshipful Company of Fletchers
Worshipful Company of Fletchers
Author: James Tate
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Paperback

1993

Garbage: A Poem
Garbage: A Poem
Author: A.R. Ammons
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

1992

New and Selected Poems
New and Selected Poems
Author: Mary Oliver
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 7


Other Versions: Hardcover

1991

What Work Is
What Work Is
Author: Philip Levine
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Hardcover

1990

No Award Given

1989

No Award Given

1988

No Award Given

1987

No Award Given

1986

No Award Given

1985

No Award Given

1984

Country Music: Selected and Early Poems (Wesleyan Poetry)
Country Music: Selected and Early Poems (Wesleyan Poetry)
Author: Charles Wright
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

1983

A New Selected Poems: Galway Kinnell
A New Selected Poems: Galway Kinnell
Author: Galway Kinnell, Galway Kinnel
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover

1982

Life Supports: New and Collected Poems
Life Supports: New and Collected Poems
Author: William Bronk
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1981

The Need to Hold Still: Poems
The Need to Hold Still: Poems
Author: Lisel Mueller
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1980

Ashes: Poems new & old
Ashes: Poems new & old
Author: Philip Levine
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1979

Mirabell: Books of Numbers (Oxford Poets)
Mirabell: Books of Numbers (Oxford Poets)
Author: James Merrill
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1978

The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov
The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov
Author: Howard Nemerov
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1977

Collected poems, 1930-1976: Including 43 new poems
Collected poems, 1930-1976: Including 43 new poems
Author: Richard Eberhart
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1976

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror: Poems (Penguin Poets)
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror: Poems (Penguin Poets)
Author: John Ashbery
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1975

Presentation Piece
Presentation Piece
Author: Marilyn Hacker
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1974

Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972
Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972
Author: Adrienne Rich
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback

1974

The Fall of America : Poems of These States 1965-1971 (City Lights Pocket Poets Series)
The Fall of America : Poems of These States 1965-1971 (City Lights Pocket Poets Series)
Author: Allen Ginsberg
  • Currently 2.8/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback

1973

Collected Poems, 1951-1971
Collected Poems, 1951-1971
Author: A. R. Ammons
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

1972

Selected Poems
Selected Poems
Author: Howard Moss
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1972

The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara
The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara
Author: Frank O'Hara
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback

1971

To See to Take Poems
To See to Take Poems
Author: Mona Van Duyn
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1970

The Complete Poems, 1927-1979
The Complete Poems, 1927-1979
Author: Elizabeth Bishop
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 8


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback

1969

His Toy, His Dream, His Rest: 308 Dream Songs
His Toy, His Dream, His Rest: 308 Dream Songs
Author: John Berryman
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback

1968

The Light Around the Body (Harper colophon books)
The Light Around the Body (Harper colophon books)
Author: Robert Bly
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback

1967

Nights and Days
Nights and Days
Author: James Merrill
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1966

Buckdancer's Choice: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)
Buckdancer's Choice: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)
Author: James Dickey
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1965

The Far Field
The Far Field
Author: Roethke
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 2


Other Versions: Paperback

1964

Selected Poems
Selected Poems
Author: John Crowe Ransom
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1963

Traveling Through the Dark: Poems
Traveling Through the Dark: Poems
Author: William Stafford
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover, Hardcover

1962

Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry
Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry
Author: Alan Dugan
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1961

The Complete Poems
The Complete Poems
Author: Randall Jarrell
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover, Paperback

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1960

Life Studies  For the Union Dead
Life Studies For the Union Dead
Author: Robert Lowell
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback

1959

Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke
Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke
Author: Theodore Roethke
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback

1958

No Award Given

1957

Poems Of Richard Wilbur
Poems Of Richard Wilbur
Author: Richard Wilbur
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback

1956

The Poetry of W.H. Auden
The Poetry of W.H. Auden
  ?


Other Versions: Paperback, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback

1955

The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
Author: Wallace Stevens
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 5


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

1954

Collected Poems
Collected Poems
Author: Conrad Potter Aiken
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

1953

Collected Poems 1917 to 1982
Collected Poems 1917 to 1982
Author: Archibald MacLeish
  ?


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

1952

The Poems of Marianne Moore
The Poems of Marianne Moore
Author: Marianne Moore
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Hardcover, Hardcover

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1951

The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
Author: Wallace Stevens
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 5


Other Versions: Hardcover, Paperback

1950

Paterson
Paterson
Author: William Carlos Williams
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1


Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback