For a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, Seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500).

Awarded to Practical Gods by Carl Dennis (Penguin Books)

Columbia University President George Rupp (left) presents Carl Dennis with the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

Finalists

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "The Seven Ages" by Louise Glück (The ECCO Press/HarperCollins), and "The Beforelife" by Franz Wright (Alfred A. Knopf).