Established in 1986 and sponsored by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry Magazine, the annual Ruth Lilly Prize of $100,000 is one of the largest in the US. This year’s recipient is Marie Ponsot. She will receive the award at the Pegasus Awards Ceremony on June 10 at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago. Ponsot’s  exceptional career as a poet has produced six collections. The Bird Catcher won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Eleven poems of hers will appear in the May edition of Poetry.

“T.S. Eliot once said that modern poets had lost the ability to think and feel at the same time. If only he could have read Marie Ponsot!” said Christian Wiman, editor of Poetry. “Her poems are marvels of intellectual curiosity and acuity, and they will also break your heart.” 

Previous winners of the Ruth Lilly Prize include Adrienne Rich, Philip Levine, and Yusef Komunyakaa. Last year’s recipient was David Ferry.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2013/03/marie-ponsot-awarded-2013-ruth-lilly-poetry-prize/