Pittsburgh, PA — Migwi Mwangi is the winner of the 2026 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize. His collection, Desire Path, was selected by Terrance Hayes. The University of Pittsburgh Press will publish Desire Path as part of the acclaimed Pitt Poetry Series in September 2026.

“Migwi is going to be a significant poet not only because of his poetic intelligence but also because of the background enriching the poems: a rich experience in the world, a rich curiosity, a rich sense of empathy, and a richness of humility,” offers Terrance Hayes, author of So To Speak. “Throughout Desire Path, the poems scale outward toward nationhood and community and inward toward the beloved, the body, and belonging. Always with dexterities of diction and perception. All of this poet’s reading and living is metabolized in a voice that feels unmistakably personal, elegant, and assured.”

Desire Path is a sweeping exploration of nationhood and small communities across cultural landscapes and national boundaries. Against imperialism and in praise of community, these poems are invested in examining everyday life through personal narratives, oral tradition, and mythology. In this collection, history is intimate and personal. There is eros, spirituality, and unabashed joy in the wake of individual and communal disquiet.

Migwi Mwangi is a storyteller from Nairobi. His work has been featured in Adroit Journal, The Bombay Literary Magazine, Qwani, Prairie Schooner, among others. He has received a Pushcart nomination, awards from the Poetry Society of America and Prairie Schooner, as well as a fellowship from the NYU MFA program. He lives in New York City.

About the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize

Established in 1981, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is awarded for a first full-length book of poems. The prize carries a cash award of $5,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press as part of the Pitt Poetry Series. Past winners include Bobby Elliott, Nathan Xavier Osorio, Tiana Clark, Nate Marshall, Quan Barry, Richard Blanco, among many others.

About the Pitt Poetry Series

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, Denise Duhamel, Lynn Emanuel, Ross Gay, Etheridge Knight, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ted Kooser, Larry Levis, Pulitzer Prize-winner Sharon Olds, Alicia Suskin Ostriker, David Hernandez, Paisley Rekdal, 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.

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