The Brittingham & Felix
Pollak Prizes in Poetry

The Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry are awarded annually to two book-length poetry manuscripts submitted in a national competition, selected by an anonymous outside judge. Each prize offers $2,500 ($1,000 and an additional $1,500 honorarium to cover expenses for reading in Madison) plus publication by the University of Wisconsin Press. Submissions may be made in September; for detailed guidelines, please see our submissions page. For additional information about the series and its publisher, visit the University of Wisconsin Press home page. Questions not answered elsewhere on this site may be directed to the series general editor, Professor Ron Wallace.

Beginning September 2013, the Brittingham/Pollak Prizes will switch to an online applications system. Stay tuned to our submissions page for updates.

Current & Past Winners

Guest Judge Terrance Hayes has selected the winners of the 2013 Brittingham and Pollak Prizes! Greg Wrenn's Centaur will be the next installment of the Brittingham Prize, and Craig Blais's About Crows will be awarded the Felix Pollak Prize. Terrance Hayes, the UW Program in Creative Writing, and the University of Wisconsin Press would also like to extend our collective appreciation to two honorable mentions: Jason Labbe, for Tattoo Removal and Jonathan Weinert, for Strange Equations.

      Jazzy Danziger: Darkroom, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Mark Wagenaar: Voodoo Inverso, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2011—Selected by Cornelius Eady

      Alison Stine: Wait, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Jacqueline Jones LaMon: Last Seen, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2010—Selected by Robert Pinsky

      Jennifer Boyden: The Mouths of Grazing Things, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Nick Lantz: The Lightning that Strikes the Neighbors' House,
            the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2009—Selected by Marilyn Nelson

      Angela Sorby: Bird Skin Coat, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Mark Kraushaar: Falling Brick Kills Local Man, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2008—Selected by David St. John

      Philip Pardi: Meditations on Rising and Falling, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Barbara Goldberg: The Royal Baker's Daughter, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2007—Selected by Linda Gregerson

      Betsy Andrews: New Jersey, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Fleda Brown: Reunion, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2005—Selected by Billy Collins

      Susanna Childress: Jagged with Love, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Jennifer Michael Hecht: Funny, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2004—Selected by Carl Dennis

      John Brehm: Sea of Faith, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Alan Feldman: A Sail to Great Island, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2003—Selected by Kelly Cherry

      Brian Teare: The Room Where I Was Born, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Bruce Snider: The Year We Studied Women, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2002—Selected by Edward Hirsch

      Anna George Meek: Acts of Contortion, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Roy Jacobstein: Ripe, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2001—Selected by Mark Doty

      Robin Behn: Horizon Note, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Cathy Colman: Borrowed Dress, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

2000—Selected by Alicia Ostriker

      Greg Rappleye: A Path Between Houses, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Derick Burleson: Ejo, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1999—Selected by Robert Bly

      Frank X. Gaspar: A Field Guide to the Heavens, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Charles Harper Webb: Liver, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1998—Selected by Donald Hall

      Suzanne Paola: Bardo, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Chana Bloch: Mrs. Dumpty, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1997—Selected by Rita Dove

      Olena Kalytiak Davis: And Her Soul Out of Nothing, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Betsy Sholl: Don't Explain, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1996—Selected by Philip Levine

      Juanita Brunk: Brief Landing on the Earth's Surface, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Dennis Trudell: Fragments in Us, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1995—Selected by Carolyn Kizer

      Lynn Powell: Old and New Testaments, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      Bob Hicok: The Legend of Light, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1994—Selected by Henry Taylor

      Lisa Lewis: The Unbeliever, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry
      David Clewell: Now We're Getting Somewhere, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry

1993—Selected by Lisel Mueller

      Stephanie Strickland: The Red Virgin, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1992—Selected by Donald Justice

      Tony Hoagland: Sweet Ruin, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1991—Selected by Donald Finkel

      Renée Ashley: Salt, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1990—Selected by Mary Oliver

      Judith Vollmer: Level Green, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1989—Selected by Gerald Stern

      Stefanie Marlis: Slow Joy, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1988—Selected by Charles Wright

      Lisa Zeidner: Pocket Sundial, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1987—Selected by Mona Van Duyn

      David Kirby: Saving the Young Men of Vienna, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1986—Selected by Maxine Kumin

      Patricia Dobler: Talking to Strangers, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry

1985—Selected by C. K. Williams

      Jim Daniels: Places/Everyone, the Brittingham Prize in Poetry