Claremont, California, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Claremont, CA - 3/9/2026 - Claremont Graduate University has announced the finalists for the 2026 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, two of the most respected honors in contemporary American poetry.
Presented annually by Claremont Graduate University since 1993, the Tufts Poetry Awards recognize exceptional new books of poetry by both established and emerging writers. The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award honors a mid-career poet for a book of outstanding accomplishment, while the Kate Tufts Discovery Award recognizes a poet’s first book and celebrates bold new voices in contemporary poetry.
Nearly 400 books were submitted by publishers and poets from across the country for consideration this year.
“Since 1993, the Kingsley Tufts and Kate Tufts Discovery Awards have allowed Claremont Graduate University to recognize major poets in mid-career while discovering the voices that will follow them,” said Lori Anne Ferrell, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, and Director of the Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards at Claremont Graduate University. “Nearly 400 books were submitted this year, and our jurors have selected ten extraordinary finalists, a distinction truly to be savored.”
Winners will be announced at the annual Tufts Poetry Awards ceremony and dinner on March 28, 2026.
KATE TUFTS DISCOVERY AWARD FINALISTS
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award honors a poet’s first published book and highlights emerging voices in contemporary poetry.
• Chaun Ballard, Second Nature (BOA Editions)
Ballard grew up in San Bernardino, California, and is currently a doctoral student in English at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln.
• Elly Bookman, Love Sick Century (42 Miles Press)
Bookman grew up in downtown Atlanta, where she now teaches at the Paideia School.
• Steven Duong, At the End of the World There is a Pond (W.W. Norton)
Duong grew up in San Diego, California, and currently teaches at Emory University in Atlanta.
• Eduardo Martinez-Leyva, Cowboy Park (University of Wisconsin Press)
Martinez-Leyva was born in El Paso, Texas, and currently lives in New York City.
• Stephanie Niu, I Would Define the Sun: Poems (Vanderbilt University Press) Niu lives in Marietta, Georgia.
KINGSLEY TUFTS POETRY AWARD FINALISTS
The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award honors a mid-career poet whose work demonstrates exceptional literary achievement and a lasting contribution to contemporary poetry.
• Jennifer Chang, An Authentic Life (Copper Canyon Books)
Chang teaches at the University of Texas at Austin.
• Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, I Don’t Want to Be Understood (Alice James Books) Espinoza grew up in Riverside, California, and teaches at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
• Rosa Lane, Called Back (Tupelo Press) Lane, also an architect, is a native of coastal Maine and divides her time between Maine and the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Octavio Quintanilla, The Book of Wounded Sparrows (Texas A&M University Press) Quintanilla lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he served as the city’s Poet Laureate from 2018–2020 and teaches in the MA/MFA program at Our Lady of the Lake University.
• Greg Rappleye, Barley Child (University of Arkansas Press)
Rappleye lives in Grand Haven, Michigan, where he teaches at Hope College.
Each year the Tufts Poetry Awards bring national attention to poets whose work expands the possibilities of language and imagination. Since their founding, the awards have helped elevate poets whose voices shape contemporary literary culture.
The winners of the 2026 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and Kate Tufts Discovery Award will be announced during the annual Tufts Poetry Awards ceremony and dinner on March 28, 2026 at Claremont Graduate University.
For more information about the Tufts Poetry Awards, visit https://arts.cgu.edu/tufts-poetry-awards/about/kingsley-kate-tufts/
Media Contact:
Lori Anne Ferrell- lori.ferrell@cgu.edu
Dean, School of Arts and Humanities
Louis and Mildred Benezet Chair in the Humanities
Director, Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards
Claremont Graduate University
SAH office: 909.621.8612
