The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
Any poet will tell you that the only thing more rare than meaningful recognition is a meaningful payday. For two outstanding poets each year, the Kingsley and Kate Tufts awards represent both.
The Tufts poetry awards – based at Claremont Graduate University – are not only two of the most prestigious prizes a contemporary poet can receive, they also come with hefty purses: $100,000 for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and $10,000 for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. This makes the Kingsley Tufts award the world’s largest monetary prize for a single collection of poetry. And for most poets who have just published their first collection of verse, $10,000 should keep the pen scribbling.
Unlike many literary awards, which are coronations for a successful career or body of work, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award was created to both honor the poet and provide the resources that allow artists to continue working towards the pinnacle of their craft.
“Because the award comes to you at mid-career, and is supposed to be a stepping stone and not a tombstone, it nerves you up to try to write up to the mark already set by the previous winners,” said Tom Sleigh, the 2008 recipient.
Kate Tufts – widow of Kinsley Tufts, and creator of the award – had said she wanted to create a prize “that would enable a poet to work on his or her craft for awhile without paying bills.”
“It is a tall order honoring the vision that Kate Tufts set out for us . . . to sustain a poet who is laboring in the difficult middle between first flower and final bloom,” said CGU Associate Professor Patricia Easton, who is the former director of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Awards. “Yet, somehow, the judges have managed to select truly exceptional poets year after year, poets who have gone on to write even greater volumes of poetry.”
Eligibility
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
The work submitted must be a book published between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011. Manuscripts, CDs, and chapbooks are not accepted.
Kate Tufts Discovery Award
The work submitted must be a first book published between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011. Manuscripts, CDs, and chapbooks are not accepted.
Other Restrictions
A work may be submitted for either award only once, although the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award may submit another work in a later year for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.
Work must be original poetry written originally in English by a poet who is a citizen or legal resident alien of the United States.
The work may be submitted by its author or, with the poet's consent, by a publisher, agent, or other representative.
Previous winners of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award are not eligible.
Poets who wish to be eligible for the awards must agree at the outset to:
- Grant permission to reproduce portions of the work honored in publicizing the award.
- Attend the awards presentation in mid to late April 2012.
- In the case of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award winner, spend, within six months of the award presentation, one week in residence at Claremont Graduate University for lectures and poetry readings in Claremont and greater Los Angeles.
Submission Requirements
- Eight copies of an eligible book of poetry (only books of poetry published between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011 are eligible).
- List of previously published work.
- One completed copy of the entry form (click here for entry form)
Send Submissions To:
Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Awards
Claremont Graduate University
160 E. Tenth Street, Harper East B7
Claremont, California 91711-6165Schedule
Entries must be postmarked no later than September 15, 2011, to be eligible. The winners of the 2012 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and Kate Tufts Discovery Award will be announced in February, and the awards will be presented in April 2012. Winners are required to accept the award in person.
The 2012 submission deadline is September 15, 2011