Moxley Wins National Award for Poetry Book
The Poetry Society of America has named Jennifer Moxley, an English professor at the University of Maine, the recipient of the 2015 William Carlos Williams Award for her book, “The Open Secret.”
The award, named after American poet William Carlos Williams, is presented annually by the PSA for a book of poetry written by an author who is a permanent resident of the United States. The book must be published by a small, nonprofit or university press.
Moxley’s book was published in October 2014 by Flood Editions, an independent publishing house for poetry and short fiction based in Chicago.
“I’m thrilled to be given an award that is named for a poet who has been a central figure both to me and to the University of Maine’s National Poetry Foundation,” Moxley says.
A Los Angeles Times review of “The Open Secret” stated “Moxley’s earnest and introspective new poems feel almost like personal essays: They take up questions that vex her in daily life, then try to explain why they won’t go away.”
The award, which includes a purchase prize between $500 and $1,000, is endowed by the family and friends of Geraldine Clinton Little, a poet and author of short stories and former vice president of the PSA. Moxley’s book will be distributed to PSA members.
“By addressing us, her readers, as intimates, and by showing us her human face — its anxious or querulous aspects as well as its calm and self-determined ones — she enlarges the possibilities of friendship and camaraderie through poetry. She enlarges, that is, faith, in poetry, for all of us,” wrote poet Ange Mlinko of Moxley’s poetry.
Moxley is the author of six books of poetry, as well as a book of essays and a memoir. She also has translated three books from French. In 2005, she received the Lynda Hull Poetry Award from Denver Quarterly. The award is given for the best poem, or poems, published in a volume year.
The Poetry Society of America was founded in 1910 and is the nation’s oldest poetry organization. It aims to build a larger, more diverse and appreciative audience for poetry while supporting poets through programs and awards.
More about PSA and the award is online. More information about Moxley and her poetry is on her website.