Pittsburgh, PA – The Pitt Poetry Series at the University of Pittsburgh Press is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2025 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, selected by Nate Marshall:

• Asa Drake, Maybe the Body
• Bobby Elliott, The Same Man
• Luke Patterson, Medic
• Alafia Sessions, Nine Drops of Turpentine
• Rob Shapiro, Human Nature

The winner will be announced on December 11, 2024.

Established in 1981, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is administered by the
University of Pittsburgh Press. Named in honor of Agnes Lynch Starrett, the Press’s
first director, the prize is awarded for a first full-length book of poems.

Past winners include Nathan Xavier Osorio, Ryler Dustin, Anuradha Bhowmik, Tiana Clark, Jan Beatty, Richard Blanco, among many others.

Since its inception in 1967, the Pitt Poetry Series has been a vehicle for America’s finest contemporary poets. The series list includes Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco, Poet Laureate Billy Collins, Toi Derricotte, Paul Hlava Ceballos, Lynn Emanuel, Ross Gay, Etheridge Knight, David Hernandez, Aurielle Marie, Sharon Olds, Afaa Michael Weaver and many others. Throughout its history, the Pitt Poetry Series has provided a voice for the diversity that is American poetry, representing poets from many backgrounds without allegiance to any one school or style.

Pitt Poetry Series is currently edited by Terrance Hayes, Nancy Krygowski, and Jeffrey McDaniel.