The Frost Medal of the Poetry Society of America (PSA) is awarded annually, at the discretion of the Society’s Board of Governors, to honor distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry.[1] The award was originally known as the Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement, and was later renamed in honor of American poet Robert Frost on the centennial of his birth.[2] The medal was established in 1930, the winner also receives $2,500. The nomination process is confined to the PSA.[3]
The Frost Medal should not be confused with a gold Robert Frost Medal that was presented by the United States Congress to Frost himself in the early 1960s.[4] and Robert Frost medals issued by the State of Vermont.
Recipients
[edit]2020s
[edit]- 2026 – Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
- 2025 – Nikki Giovanni
- 2024 – Joy Harjo
- 2023 – Juan Felipe Herrera
- 2022 – Sharon Olds
- 2021 – N. Scott Momaday
- 2020 – Toi Derricotte
2010s
[edit]- 2019 – Eleanor Wilner
- 2018 – Ron Padgett
- 2017 – Susan Howe
- 2016 – Grace Schulman
- 2015 – Kamau Brathwaite
- 2014 – Gerald Stern
- 2013 – Robert Bly
- 2012 – Marilyn Nelson
- 2011 – Charles Simic
- 2010 – Lucille Clifton
2000s
[edit]- 2009 – X. J. Kennedy
- 2008 – Michael S. Harper
- 2007 – John Hollander
- 2006 – Maxine Kumin
- 2005 – Marie Ponsot
- 2004 – Richard Howard
- 2003 – Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- 2002 – Galway Kinnell
- 2001 – Sonia Sanchez
- 2000 – Anthony Hecht
1990s
[edit]- 1999 – Barbara Guest
- 1998 – Stanley Kunitz
- 1997 – Josephine Jacobsen
- 1996 – Richard Wilbur
- 1995 – John Ashbery
- 1994 – A. R. Ammons
- 1993 – William Stafford
- 1992 – Adrienne Rich
- 1992 – David Ignatow
- 1991 – Donald Hall
- 1990 – Denise Levertov
- 1990 – James Laughlin
1980s
[edit]- 1989 – Gwendolyn Brooks
- 1988 – Carolyn Kizer
- 1987 – Robert Creeley
- 1987 – Sterling Brown
- 1986 – Allen Ginsberg[5]
- 1986 – Richard Eberhart[6]
- 1985 – Robert Penn Warren
- 1984 – Jack Stadler
Earlier recipients
[edit]- 1976 – A. M. Sullivan
- 1974 – John Hall Wheelock
- 1971 – Melville Cane
- 1967 – Marianne Moore
- 1955 – Leona Speyer
- 1952 – Carl Sandburg
- 1951 – Wallace Stevens
- 1947 – Gustav Davidson
- 1943 – Edna St. Vincent Millay
- 1942 – Edgar Lee Masters
- 1941 – Robert Frost
- 1930 – Jessie Rittenhouse
- 1930 – George Edward Woodberry (posthumous)
- 1930 – Bliss Carman (posthumous)
Years not awarded
[edit]- 1931–1940
- 1944–1946
- 1948–1950
- 1953–1954
- 1956–1966
- 1968–1970
- 1972–1973
- 1975
- 1977–1983
References
[edit]- ^ "Frost Medalist". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ^ "Robert Frost". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ^ Leckey 2015, p. 101.
- ^ US Congress 1960, Senate Calendar 1635. Report 1572.
- ^ "Eberhart and Ginsberg Win Frost Poetry Medal". The New York Times. 1986-04-17. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
- ^ "Eberhart and Ginsberg Win Frost Poetry Medal". The New York Times. 1986-04-17. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
Sources
[edit]- Leckey, Susan (2015-12-22). The Europa Directory of Literary Awards and Prizes. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-35632-3. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
- US Congress (1960). Reports and Documents 1959-1960. Vol. 29. Retrieved 2026-02-14.