English Faculty Roger Reeves Named Finalist for 2015 Kate Tufts Discovery Award
Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is pleased to announce this year’s finalists for the $10,000 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. The award is among the world’s most distinguished prizes for books of poetry.
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award is presented annually for a first book by a poet of genuine promise.
UIC LAS English department's Roger Reeves is among the five finalists for this prestigious award.
Finalists for 2015 are:
- David J. Daniels, Clean (Four Way Books) Daniels is poetry editor of Pebble Lake Review and teaches at the University of Denver. His poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best of the Net 2012, Kenyon Review, and Pleiades.
- Hailey Leithauser, Swoop (Graywolf Press). Leithauser worked most recently as a reference librarian at the Department of Energy. Her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, the Gettysburg Review, and Poetry.
- Jamaal May, Hum (Alice James Books). May is a poet, editor, and filmmaker who has taught poetry in public schools. His work has appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, and The Believer.
- Roger Reeves, King Me (Copper Canyon Press). Reeves is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His work has appeared in journals such as Poetry, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, Boston Review, and Tin House.
- Brandon Som, The Tribute Horse (Nightboat Books). Som is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California. His poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Indiana Review, Black Warrior Review, and Octopus Magazine.
The panel of final judges were Wendy Martin, director of the Tufts Poetry Awards; David Barber, poet and poetry editor of the Atlantic Monthly; Kate Gale, poet, novelist, and managing editor of Red Hen Press; Stephen Burt, literary critic and English professor at Harvard University; and Chase Twichell, chair of the judging committee and past winner of the Kingsley Tufts award.
"There were many outstanding submissions for the Tufts Awards this year, and we are delighted to honor these accomplished finalists whose poetry encompasses an extraordinary range of voices and diverse perspectives," Wendy Martin said.
Winners will be announced in late February and recognized during a ceremony at Claremont Graduate University in April.