For a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Awarded to “Delights & Shadows” by Ted Kooser (Copper Canyon Press).
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “The Orchard” by Brigit Pegeen Kelly (BOA Editions, Ltd.), and “Search Party: Collected Poems” by the late William Matthews (Houghton Mifflin).