Poet Carl Phillips wins $75,000 Jackson Prize

Poet Carl Phillips has received a $75,000 honor for a body of work which judges said displays exceptional talent

Books--Jackson Prize

Poet Carl Phillips has received a $75,000 honor for a body of work which displays “exceptional talent.”

On Monday, Poets & Writers announced that the 61-year-old Phillips has won the Jackson Prize, which in previous years has gone to Elizabeth Alexander, Claudia Rankine and current U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo, among others. Phillips' 15 books of poetry include “Wild Is the Wind,” “Pale Colors In a Tall Field” and “In the Blood.”

Phillips, 61, is a native of Everett Washington and currently a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. His previous awards include the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Kenyon Review Award.

“Phillips is a love poet; he wants to know what one human has to do with another, what one owes another, and how all of this translates into desire and the capacity to inspire moral or immoral reactions," prize judges Jericho Brown, Carolyn Forche and Juan Felipe Herrera wrote in their citation.

Poets & Writers, founded in 1970, is a nonprofit organization with a mission to “foster the professional development of poets and writers, to promote communication throughout the literary community, and to help create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public.”