National Poetry Series
The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program.
Every year since 1979, the National Poetry Series has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry. Manuscripts are solicited through an annual open competition, judged and chosen by poets of national stature, and issued by various publishers. The National Poetry Series has also created the Paz Prize for Poetry, named in honor of Nobel Prize-winning poet, Octavio Paz; this award recognizes a previously unpublished poetry book written in Spanish by a distinguished poet residing in the U.S. This award is highly recognized as one of the most important prizes in Spanish languages in the United States. Winners of this prize are Dinapiera Di Donato by Colaterales/Collateral in 2012 and Cuban-American Carlos Pintado for his Nueve monedas/Nine coins in 2014. Richard Blanco, United States' inaugural poet, served as a judge in 2014.
Winners
Each year links to its corresponding " in poetry" article:| Year | Book | Author | Judge |
| 2018 | Fear of Description | Daniel Poppick | Brenda Shaughnessy |
| 2018 | Valuing | Christopher Kondrich | Jericho Brown |
| 2018 | Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers | Jake Skeets | Kathy Fagan |
| 2018 | It's Not Magic | Jon Sands | Richard Blanco |
| 2018 | Nervous System | Rosalie Moffett | Monica Youn |
| 2017 | The Lumberjack's Dove | GennaRose Nethercott | Louise Glück |
| 2017 | Anarcha Speaks | Dominque Christina | Tyehimba Jess |
| 2017 | feeld | Jos Charles | Fady Joudah |
| 2017 | What It Doesn't Have to Do With | Lindsay Bernal | Paul Guest |
| 2017 | Museum of the Americas | J. Michael Martinez | Cornelius Eady |
| 2016 | I Know Your Kind: Poems | William Brewer | Ada Limón |
| 2016 | Thaw | Chelsea Dingman | Allison Joseph |
| 2016 | For Want of Water: And Other Poems | Sasha Pimentel | Gregory Pardlo |
| 2016 | Madness | Sam Sax | Terrance Hayes |
| 2016 | Civil Twilight | Jeffrey Schultz | David St. John |
| 2015 | The Sobbing School | Joshua Bennett | Eugene Gloria |
| 2015 | Trébuchet | Danniel Schoonebeek | Kevin Prufer |
| 2015 | Scriptorium | Melissa Range | Tracy K. Smith |
| 2015 | The Wug Test | Jennifer Kronovet | Eliza Griswold |
| 2015 | Not on the Last Day, But on the Very Last | Justin Boening | Wayne Miller |
| 2014 | Monograph | Simeon Berry of Somerville, Massachusetts | Denise Duhamel |
| 2014 | The Regret Histories | Joshua Poteat of Richmond, Virginia | Campbell McGrath |
| 2014 | Let's Let That Are Not Yet: Inferno | Ed Pavlić of Athens, Georgia | John Keene |
| 2014 | Double Jinx | Nancy Reddy of Madison, Wisconsin | Alex Lemon |
| 2014 | Viability | Sarah Vap of Venice, California | Mary Jo Bang |
| 2013 | Ampersand Revisited | Simeon Berry of Somerville, Massachusetts | Ariana Reines |
| 2013 | Trespass | Thomas Dooley of New York, New York | Charlie Smith |
| 2013 | Bone Map | Sara Eliza Johnson of Salt Lake City, Utah | Martha Collins |
| 2013 | Its Day Being Gone | Rose McLarney of Tulsa, Oklahoma | Robert Wrigley |
| 2013 | What Ridiculous Things We Could Ask of Each Other | Jeffrey Schultz of Los Angeles, California | Kevin Young |
| 2012 | Visiting Hours at the Color Line | Ed Pavlić of Athens, Georgia | Dan Beachy-Quick |
| 2012 | The Cloud that Contained the Lightning | Cynthia Lowen of Brooklyn, New York | Nikky Finney |
| 2012 | The Narrow Circle | Nathan Hoks of Chicago, Illinois | Dean Young |
| 2012 | the meatgirl whatever | Kristin Hatch of San Francisco, California | K. Silem Mohammad |
| 2012 | Failure & I Bury the Body | Sasha West of Austin, Texas | D. Nurkse |
| 2011 | The Apothecary's Heir | Julianne Buchsbaum of Lawrence, Kansas | Lucie Brock-Broido |
| 2011 | Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast | Hannah Gamble of Chicago, Illinois | Bernadette Mayer |
| 2011 | Green Is for World | Juliana Leslie of Santa Cruz, California | Ange Mlinko |
| 2011 | Exit, Civilian | Idra Novey of Brooklyn, New York | Patricia Smith |
| 2011 | Maybe the Saddest Thing | Marcus Wicker of Ann Arbor, Michigan | D.A. Powell |
| 2010 | The Lifting Dress | Lauren Berry of Houston, Texas | Terrance Hayes |
| 2010 | Stutter | William Billiter of Clinton, New York | Hilda Raz |
| 2010 | Exhibit of Forking Paths | James Grinwis of Florence, Massachusetts | Eleni Sikelianos |
| 2010 | The Lamp with Wings: 60 Love Sonnets | M.A. Vizsolyi of New York, New York | Ilya Kaminsky |
| 2010 | A Map Predetermined and Chance | Laura Wetherington of Roanoke, Virginia | C.S. Giscombe |
| 2009 | Sarah-Of Fragments and Lines | Julie Carr of Denver, Colorado | Eileen Myles |
| 2009 | Here Be Monsters | Colin Cheney of Brooklyn, New York | David Wojahn |
| 2009 | Burn Lake | Carrie Fountain of Austin, Texas | Natasha Trethewey |
| 2009 | Ideal Cities | Erika Meitner of Blacksburg, Virginia | Paul Guest |
| 2009 | The Network | Jena Osman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Prageeta Sharma |
| 2008 | If Birds Gather Your Hair for Nesting | Anna Journey of Houston, Texas | Thomas Lux |
| 2008 | The Black Automaton | Douglas Kearney of Van Nuys, California | Catherine Wagner |
| 2008 | Mixology | Adrian Matejka of Edwardsville, Illinois | Kevin Young |
| 2008 | Bird Eating Bird | Kristin Naca of Minneapolis, Minnesota | Yusef Komunyakaa |
| 2008 | catch light | Sarah O'Brien of Brookfield, Ohio | David Shapiro |
| 2007 | Installations | Joe Bonomo | Naomi Shihab Nye |
| 2007 | Spring | Oni Buchanan | Mark Doty |
| 2007 | House Held Together by Winds | Sabra Loomis | James Tate |
| 2007 | The Cosmopolitan | Donna Stonecipher | John Yau |
| 2007 | Collapsible Poetics Theater | Rodrigo Toscano | Marjorie Welish |
| 2006 | The Scented Fox | Laynie Browne of Oakland, California | Alice Notley |
| 2006 | Novel Pictorial Noise | Noah Eli Gordon of Denver, Colorado | John Ashbery |
| 2006 | Veil and Burn | Laurie Clements Lambeth of Houston, Texas | Maxine Kumin |
| 2006 | Vertigo | Martha Ronk of Los Angeles, California | C.D. Wright |
| 2006 | Nervous Systems | William Stobb of La Crosse, Wisconsin | August Kleinzahler |
| 2005 | The Resurrection Machine | Steve Gehrke | T.R. Hummer |
| 2005 | The Anatomy Theater | Nadine Meyer | John Koethe |
| 2005 | Teahouse of the Almighty | Patricia Smith | Edward Sanders |
| 2005 | Three, Breathing | S.A. Stepanek | Mary Ruefle |
| 2005 | An Almost Pure Empty Walking | Tryfon Tolides | Mary Karr |
| 2004 | The Welcome | David Friedman | Stephen Dunn |
| 2004 | leadbelly | Tyehimba Jess | Brigit Pegeen Kelly |
| 2004 | PYX | Corinne Lee | Pattiann Rogers |
| 2004 | Starred Wire | Ange Mlinko | Bob Holman |
| 2004 | Corruption | Camille Norton | Campbell McGrath |
| 2003 | Shiva's Drum | Stephen Cramer | Grace Schulman |
| 2003 | Citizen | Andrew Feld | Ellen Bryant Voigt |
| 2003 | Murder | Raymond McDaniel | Anselm Hollo |
| 2003 | The White Train | John Spaulding | Henry Taylor |
| 2003 | Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross | Mark Yakich | James Galvin |
| 2002 | Rhythm & Booze: Poems | Julie Kane | Maxine Kumin |
| 2002 | Sanskrit of the Body | W. B. Keckler | Mary Oliver |
| 2002 | The Monster Lives of Boys and Girls | Eleni Sikelianos | Diane Ward |
| 2002 | The Standing Wave: Poems | Gabriel Spera | Dave Smith |
| 2002 | Tenderness Shore | Meredith Stricker | Fred Chappell |
| 2001 | Year of Morphines: Poems | Betsy Brown | George Garrett |
| 2001 | Theory of Devolution: Poems | David Groff | Mark Doty |
| 2001 | Hip Logic | Terrance Hayes | Cornelius Eady |
| 2001 | Edgewater: Poems | Ruth L. Schwartz | Jane Hirshfield |
| 2001 | Pure Descent | Elizabeth Robinson | Fanny Howe |
| 2000 | Anthem | Jean Donnelly | Charles Bernstein |
| 2000 | That Kind of Sleep | Susan Atefat Peckham | Victor Hernández Cruz |
| 2000 | Tremolo: Poems | Spencer Short | Billy Collins |
| 2000 | Manderley: Poems | Rebecca Wolff | Robert Pinsky |
| 2000 | Asunder | Susan Wood | Garrett Hongo |
| 1999 | Madame Deluxe | Tenaya Darlington | Lawson Fusao Inada |
| 1999 | Nova | Standard Schaefer | Nick Piombino |
| 1999 | Climbing Back | Dionisio D. Martinez | Jorie Graham |
| 1999 | Drivers at the Short-Time Motel | Eugene Gloria | Yusef Komunyakaa |
| 1999 | Renunciation : Poems | Corey Marks | Philip Levine |
| 1998 | Butterfly Effect | Harry Humes | Pattiann Rogers |
| 1998 | Atmosphere Conditions | Ed Roberson | Nathaniel Mackey |
| 1998 | Looking for the Parade: Poems | Joan Murray | Robert Bly |
| 1998 | Beyond Heart Mountain: Poems | Lee Ann Roripaugh | Ishmael Reed |
| 1998 | So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water Until It Breaks | Rigoberto González | Ai |
| 1997 | Except by Nature | Sandra Alcosser | Eamon Grennan |
| 1997 | Tales of Muraski and Other Poems | Martine Bellen | Rosemarie Waldrop |
| 1997 | The Origins of Evening: Poems | Robert Gibb | Eavan Boland |
| 1997 | Silent Treatment: Poems | Lisa Lewis | Stanley Plumly |
| 1997 | Lost Wax: Poems | Heather Ramsdell | James Tate |
| 1996 | Red Signature | Mary Leader | Deborah Digges |
| 1996 | The Little Door Slides Back: Poems | Jeff Clark | Ray DiPalma |
| 1996 | Placebo Effects: Poems | Jeanne Marie Beaumont | William Matthews |
| 1996 | The New Intimacy | Barbara Cully | Carolyn Forché |
| 1996 | Nine Skies: Poems | A V. Christie | Sandra McPherson |
| 1995 | Leaving a Shadow | Heather Allen | Denise Levertov |
| 1995 | Response | Juliana Spahr | Lyn Hejinian |
| 1995 | Crash's Law: Poems | Karen Volkman | Heather McHugh |
| 1995 | Strange Relation | Daniel Hall | Mark Doty |
| 1995 | The Broken World: Poems | Marcus Cafagna | Yusef Komunyakaa |
| 1995 | Infanta | Erin Belieu | Hayden Carruth |
| 1994 | To Give It Up | Pam Rehm | Barbara Guest |
| 1994 | Hummock in the Malookas: Poems | Matthew Rohrer | Mary Oliver |
| 1994 | The Human Abstract | Elizabeth Willis | Ann Lauterbach |
| 1994 | Theater of Animals: Poems | Samn Stockwell | Louise Glück |
| 1993 | The Other Man Was Me: A Voyage to the New World | Rafael Campo | Gloria Vando |
| 1993 | Most Way Home: Poems | Kevin Young | Lucille Clifton |
| 1993 | The Landlady in Bangkok | Karen Swenson | Maxine Kumin |
| 1993 | The Other Stars | Rachel Wetzsteon | John Hollander |
| 1993 | The High Road to Taos: Poems | Martin Edmunds | Donald Hall |
| 1992 | Lost Body | Terry Ehret | Carolyn Kizer |
| 1992 | Shorter Poems | Gerald Burns | Robert Creeley |
| 1992 | Debt: Poems | Mark Levine | Jorie Graham |
| 1992 | What We Don't Know about Each Other | Lawrence Raab | Stephen Dunn |
| 1992 | My Alexandria: Poems | Mark Doty | Philip Levine |
| 1991 | A Flower Whose Name I Do Not Know | David Romtvedt | John Haines |
| 1991 | To Put the Mouth to | Judith Hall | Richard Howard |
| 1991 | As If | James Richardson | Amy Clampitt |
| 1991 | Good Hope Road | Stuart Dischell | Thomas Lux |
| 1991 | The Dig | Lynn Emanuel | Gerald Stern |
| 1990 | Words for My Daughter | John Balaban | W.S. Merwin |
| 1990 | Questions About Angels: Poems | Billy Collins | Edward Hirsch |
| 1990 | Rainbow Remnants in Rock Bottom Ghetto Sky: Poems | Thylias Moss | Charles Simic |
| 1990 | The Island Itself | Roger Fanning | Michael Ryan |
| 1990 | The Surface: Poems | Laura Mullen | C. K. Williams |
| 1989 | Terra Firma | Thomas Centolella | Denise Levertov |
| 1989 | Artist and Model | Carol Snow | Robert Hass |
| 1989 | The Brother's Country: Poems | Tom Andrews | Charles Wright |
| 1989 | Blessings in Disguise | David Clewell | Quincy Troupe |
| 1989 | Stubborn: Poems | Roland Flint | Dave Smith |
| 1988 | Green the Witch-Hazel Wood | Emily Hiestand | Jorie Graham |
| 1988 | After We Lost Our Way | David Mura | Gerald Stern |
| 1988 | Black Wings | Len Roberts | Sharon Olds |
| 1988 | No mercy | Lee Upton | James Tate |
| 1988 | Great Bird of Love: Poems | Paul Zimmer | William Stafford |
| 1987 | A Guide to Forgetting | Jeffrey Skinner | Tess Gallagher |
| 1987 | Singing Underneath | Jeffrey Harrison | James Merrill |
| 1987 | The Good Thief: Poems | Marie Howe | Margaret Atwood |
| 1987 | New Math: Poems | Cole Swensen | Michael Palmer |
| 1987 | The Hand of God and a Few Bright Flowers | William Olsen | David Wagoner |
| 1986 | Cardinals in the Ice Age | John Engels | Philip Levine |
| 1986 | Red Roads | Charlie Smith | Stanley Kunitz |
| 1986 | Junk City | Barbara Anderson | Robert Pinsky |
| 1986 | Little Star: Poems | Mark Halliday | Heather McHugh |
| 1986 | Cities in Motion | Sylvia Moss | Derek Walcott |
| 1985 | As Long As You're Happy: Poems | Jack Myers | Seamus Heaney |
| 1985 | Saints | Reginald Gibbons | Roland Flint |
| 1985 | Local Time | Stephen Dunn | Dave Smith |
| 1985 | Palladium: Poems | Alice Fulton | Mark Strand |
| 1984 | Wild Onion | Robert L. Jones | Carolyn Forché |
| 1984 | The Raft | Kathy Fagan | Daniel Halpern |
| 1984 | Afterwards | Amy Bartlett | Galway Kinnell |
| 1984 | Silver and Information | Bruce Smith | Hayden Carruth |
| 1984 | Eroding Witness | Nathaniel Mackey | Michael S. Harper |
| 1983 | In the Solar Wind | Wendy Battin | William Matthews |
| 1983 | God's Mistress | James Galvin | Marvin Bell |
| 1983 | The persistence of memory: Poems | Mary Fell | Madeline DeFrees |
| 1983 | Black Dog, Red Dog: Poems | Stephen Dobyns | Robert Hass |
| 1982 | The Greater Leisures | Jane Miller | Stanley Plumly |
| 1982 | Going On: Selected Poems 1958-1980 | Joanne Kyger | Robert Creeley |
| 1982 | From the Abandoned Cities | Donald Revell | C.K. Williams |
| 1982 | The Hands in Exile | Susan Tichy | Sandra McPherson |
| 1982 | Corpse and Mirror | John Yau | |
| 1981 | Accidental Weather | Sherod Santos | Charles Wright |
| 1981 | Hugging the Jukebox | Naomi Shihab Nye | Josephine Miles |
| 1981 | Second Sight | Jonathan Aaron | Anthony Hecht |
| 1981 | The Incognito Lounge: And Other Poems | Denis Johnson | Mark Strand |
| 1981 | The Mud Actor | Cyrus Cassells | Al Young |
| 1980 | Gumbo | George Barlow | Ishmael Reed |
| 1980 | The Dollmaker's Ghost | Larry Levis | Stanley Kunitz |
| 1980 | Leaving Taos | Robert Peterson | Carolyn Kizer |
| 1980 | So This Is the Map | Reg Saner | Derek Walcott |
| 1980 | In Winter | Michael Ryan | |
| 1979 | Any Body's Song | Joseph Langland | Ann Stanford |
| 1979 | The collected poems of Sterling A. Brown | Sterling Allen Brown | Michael Harper |
| 1979 | Silks | Roberta Spear | Philip Levine |