The Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the first collection of a promising American poet. The contest was founded in 1919, and is the oldest annual literary award in the United States. Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... Literature is literally an acquaintance with letters as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin littera meaning an individual written character (letter)). The term has, however, generally come to identify a collection of texts. ...

Each year Yale University Press seeks to publish one book-length manuscript by a United States citizen under the age of forty who has not previously published a book of poetry. The winner receives royalties upon publication of the book. All poems must be orginal, and only one manuscript may be entered at a time. Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ... Publishing is the activity of putting information in the public arena. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... A royalty is a sum paid to the creator of performance art for the use of that art. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ...

The contest is regarded to have been at its height from 1947 to 1959, when W. H. Auden was choosing the winners. His then-young poets included Adrienne Rich, W. S. Merwin, John Ashbery, and John Hollander, all of whom became powerful voices in the poetry world. Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Wystan Hugh Auden (February 21, 1907 – September 29, 1973) was an English poet and critic, widely regarded as among the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. ... Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich (born May 16, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American feminist, poet, teacher, and writer. ... William Stanley (W.S.) Merwin was born on September 30, 1927 in New York City and grew up in Union City, New Jersey, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. ... John Ashbery (born July 8, 1927) is one of the most influential and innovative American poets of the 20th century. ... John Hollander (born October 29, 1929) is an American poet and literary critic. ...

Winners

Recent winners of the competition include:

• (1973) Field Guide, by Robert Hass
• (1976) Gathering the Tribes, by Carolyn Forché
• (1977) Beginning with O, by Olga Broumas
• (1980) One Way to Reconstruct the Scene, by William Virgil Davis
• (1983) Picture Bride, by Cathy Song
• (1987) Above the Land, by Julie Agoos
• (1989) Out of the Woods, by Thomas Bolt
• (1990) Hermit with Landscape, by Daniel Hall
• (1993) Stone Crop, by Jody Gladding
• (1994) Thinking the World Visible, by Valerie Wohlfeld
• (1995) Living in the Resurrection, by T. Crunk
• (1996) Cities of Memory, by Ellen Hinsey
• (1997) My Shining Archipelago, by Talvikki Ansel
• (1998) Shells, by Craig Arnold
• (1999) Ultima Thule, by Davis McCombs
• (2000) Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions, by Maurice Manning
• (2001) Discography, by Sean Singer
• (2002) Famous Americans, by Loren Goodman
• (2003) The Cuckoo, by Peter Streckfus
• (2004) Crush, by Richard Siken

In earlier years, winners included James Agee, Muriel Rukeyser, Margaret Walker, William Meredith, Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery, John Hollander, and James Tate. Robert L. Hass (b. ... Carolyn Forché is an American poet and human rights advocate. ... Ellen Hinsey teaches writing and literature at Skidmore Colleges program in Paris and at the French graduate school, the Ecole Polytechnique. ... Craig Arnold (born November 16, 1967) is an American poet. ... James Agee (November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was a United States novelist, screenwriter, journalist, poet, and film critic. ... Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 - February 12, 1980) was an American poet and political activist. ... Dr. Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander (July 7, 1915-November 30, 1998) was an American poet and author born in Birmingham, Alabama. ... William Meredith may refer to more than one person: William Meredith (poet) William M. Meredith, a U.S. Treasury Secretary Sir William Meredith, 3rd Baronet, a minor British politician. ... Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich (born May 16, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American feminist, poet, teacher, and writer. ... John Ashbery (born July 8, 1927) is one of the most influential and innovative American poets of the 20th century. ... John Hollander (born October 29, 1929) is an American poet and literary critic. ...

Reference

• The Yale Younger Poets Anthology (1998) edited by George Bradley

External links

• Information on the competition from Yale University Press