Columbia faculty and alumni were long-listed for the National Book Awards in Poetry.
Among the alums are Marie Howe ’83 for her poetry collection, Magdalene, and Mai Der Vang ’14 for Afterland.
Howe’s poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Ploughshares and Harvard Review, among others. She was named the New York State Poet Laureate in 2012. This is her first time long-listed for the National Book Award.
Afterland is Vang's debut poetry collection. It was selected by Carolyn Forché as the winner of the 2016 Walt Whitman Award, given by the Academy of American Poets. This is her first time long-listed for the National Book Award.
Shane McCrae, a faculty member and recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award, was long-listed for his collection, In the Language of My Captor.
Alumnus Gregory Pardlo ’16, who won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his second collection, Digest, is among the judges for this year’s awards. Finalists will be announced on October 4, and winners will be celebrated in New York on November 15.
Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Finalists receive a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a citation from the panel at a private Medal Ceremony. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.
