Howell Resident Wins Poetry Prize Worth $100K For Second Time

HOWELL, NJ — Howell resident Patricia Smith was announced the winner of the 2021 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, worth $100,000.

The award by the Poetry Foundation recognized Smith's outstanding lifetime achievement.

Smith has authored eight poetry books including "Incendiary Art," which was the winner of a Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award (also worth $100,000) in 2018 and of an NAACP Image Award, as well as a finalist for both the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize.

She is also a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam.

"Her formal dexterity and the array of voices, narratives, and histories covered in her work—from exuberant lyrical poems and lively crowns of sonnets to persona poems through which she inhabits a diverse cast of characters—set Smith apart as a leader in her craft," the Poetry Foundation wrote.

The Chicago native moved to Howell years ago. Her native hometown and its people have been the source of inspiration for many of her poems, including collections such as "Life According to Motown" and "Big Towns."

"Smith has inspired countless poets over the course of her career, and she continues to serve as a role model and mentor for poets in Chicago and beyond," the Poetry Foundation said in a statement.

Racism in America is another prominent topic in Smith's work. The death of Emmet Till and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have inspired some of her writing.

“All I want is for someone to pick up 'Incendiary Art' or pick up 'Blood Dazzler' and say, that’s right, this is happening. That’s what I want. Maybe it won’t last long, but for the moment they’re reading those poems I want them to be thoroughly involved in what they’re reading,” she said, according to her agency's website.

Her next book will be out in 2022 and will combine dramatic monologues with 19th-century photos of African-Americans from Smith's private collection.