The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation, which also publishes Poetry magazine. The prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. It honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition"; its value is $100,000[1][2] making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. The prize has been called "among the most prestigious awards that can be won by an American poet".[3]
The following list is based on the listing by the Poetry Foundation.[4][5]
1986: Adrienne Rich
1987: Philip Levine
1988: Anthony Hecht
1989: Mona Van Duyn
1990: Hayden Carruth
1991: David Wagoner
1992: John Ashbery
1993: Charles Wright
1994: Donald Hall
1995: A. R. Ammons
1996: Gerald Stern
1997: William Matthews
1998: W. S. Merwin
1999: Maxine Kumin
2000: Carl Dennis
2001: Yusef Komunyakaa
2002: Lisel Mueller
2003: Linda Pastan
2004: Kay Ryan
2005: C. K. Williams
2006: Richard Wilbur
2007: Lucille Clifton
2008: Gary Snyder
2009: Fanny Howe
2010: Eleanor Ross Taylor
2011: David Ferry[6]
2012: W. S. Di Piero[7]
2013: Marie Ponsot[8]
2014: Nathaniel Mackey[9]
2015: Alice Notley[10]
2016: Ed Roberson
2017: Joy Harjo
2018: Martín Espada[11]
2019: Marilyn Nelson
2020: Marilyn Chin[12]
2021: Patricia Smith
2022: Sandra Cisneros, CAConrad, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Juan Felipe Herrera, Angela Jackson, Haki R. Madhubuti, Sharon Olds, Sonia Sanchez, Patti Smith and Arthur Sze[13]
2023: Kimiko Hahn[14]