Poet Patricia Smith wins $100,000 lifetime achievement award

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Poet Patricia Smith has won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement. The $100,000 honor is handed out by the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation. Previous winners include W.S. Merwin, Kay Ryan and the current poet laureate, Joy Harjo. Smith is known for such collections as “Blood Dazzler” and “Incendiary Art,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2018. On Tuesday, the foundation also announced that Susan Briante won the $7,500 Pegasus Award for poetry criticism for her essay collection “Defacing the Monument.” Five emerging poets were named Poetry Fellows.