October 28, 1998
Contact: Beth Fox
(615) 322-NEWS (6397)
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October 28, 1998 Contact: Beth Fox (615) 322-NEWS (6397) |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Mark Jarman, professor of English at Vanderbilt University, has been awarded the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for his book "Questions for Ecclesiastes."
The Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize is a $10,000 award for the most outstanding book of poems published in the United States. The prize was announced Oct. 15 by the Academy of American Poets and The Nation magazine.
"Questions for Ecclesiastes," a book of poetry that deals primarily with issues of religious faith and belief, was also nominated for the National Book Critics Award earlier this year. It was published by Story Line press.
"I was totally stunned. This is an enormous honor in the poetry world. I am amazed and humbled," Jarman said.
Professor Vereen Bell, chair of the English department, said, "The past winners of the Lenore Marshall Prize form the honor roll of American poets in this part of our century - Allen Tate, Charles Wright, Robert Pinsky, Marilyn Hacker, W.S. Merwin, Thom Gunn, Adrienne Rich and others. We always knew here that Mark was in the honor roll; now the rest of the world knows it too. So while we are not amazed, we are pleased and proud for Mark and his family and for Vanderbilt. We are honored to have him as our colleague."
One of the finalists for the Lenore Marshall Prize, Marilyn Nelson, will be a visiting writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt in the spring, teaching an advanced poetry writing workshop. Nominated for her book "The Fields of Praise," Nelson is currently a professor at the University of Connecticut Storrs.
Jarman has received several awards over the course of his career, including the Joseph Henry Jackson Award, three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. His book "The Black Riviera" won the 1991 Poets' Prize. His poetry has been published in periodicals and journals such as "The American Poetry Review," "The New Yorker" and "The Southern Review."
A collection of Jarman's poetry "The Secret of Poetry" is forthcoming from Story Line Press in 2000, along with a new book of poetry, "Unholy Sonnets." He has been a member of the English faculty at Vanderbilt since 1983.
The Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize was established in 1975 by the New Hope Foundation in memory of Lenore Marshall, a poet, novelist, essayist and political activist. The prize is endowed by a gift to the academy from the New Hope Foundation, which for more than 40 years worked to support world peace, literature and the arts.
The Academy of American Poets was founded in 1934 to support American poets in all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry. The largest organization in the country dedicated specifically to the art of poetry, the academy sponsors programs across the country, including the Academy Fellowship, the Tanning Prize, the James Laughlin Award, the Walt Whitman Award and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award.
The Nation, founded in 1865, is America's oldest weekly magazine. Notable writers who have contributed to the journal of political analysis include Henry James, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, T.S. Eliot, Emily Dickenson, Ezra Pound and Robert Frost.
-VU-
Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately
5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded
in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute,
a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center.
Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences,
education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range
of graduate and professional degrees.
For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the News and Public Affairs home page
on the Internet at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News.