The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is awarded annually by Truman State University, which is a United States university located in Missouri. First awarded in 1997, the prize is given "for the best unpublished book-length collection of poetry in English, in honor of native Missourian T. S. Eliot’s considerable intellectual and artistic legacy".[1] Eliot won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. The prize includes publication of the collection as well as a purse of $2000. Poets submit their unpublished collections to Truman State University Press for each year's competition. A well-known poet is chosen each year to judge the collections, and to select the winner and several finalists.
The winners, collection titles, and judges of the annual Prize are listed below. In addition to the winner, several finalists are announced for each year's competition. The complete list of winners and finalists is posted at the Truman State University Press website. As examples, Deborah Warren and A. M. Juster were finalists, and both Patty Seyburn and Daniel Bourne have been finalists twice.
| Year | Poet | Collection | Judge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Alison D. Moncrief Bromage | Daughter, Daedalus | Jennifer Clement |
| Warp | Arthur Sze | ||
| Small Hours | Dorianne Laux | ||
| Compass | Sherod Santos | ||
| David Livewell | Shackamaxon | Sandra McPherson | |
| B. K. Fisher | Mutiny Gallery | Tony Barnstone | |
| Dean Rader | Works and Days | Claudia Keelan | |
| David Moolten[3] | Primitive Mood | Virgil Suárez | |
| my maiden cowboy names | Grace Schulman | ||
| Into the Arms of Pushkin: Poems of St. Petersburg | Alberto Rios | ||
| The Miniature Room | Naomi Shihab Nye | ||
| Red Beans and Ricely Yours | Ishmael Reed | ||
| The Empty Boat | Diane Wakoski | ||
| Barbara Campbell | Erotic Distance | C. D. Wright | |
| Human Cartography | David Wagoner | ||
| After Greece | Lynne McMahon | ||
| Rational Numbers | Dana Gioia | ||
| The Rose Inside | Mary Oliver | ||
| Where Horizons Go | X. J. Kennedy | ||
| The Unfortunates | Samuel Maio | ||