Frost Medal
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
2020s
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 1931–1940
- 1944–1946
- 1948–1950
- 1953–1954
- 1956–1966
- 1968–1970
- 1972–1973
- 1975
- 1977–1983
References
- ^ "Frost Medalist". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ^ "Robert Frost". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ^ Leckey 2015, p. 101.
- ^ US Congress 1960, Senate Calendar 1635. Report 1572.
- ^ "Eberhart and Ginsberg Win Frost Poetry Medal". The New York Times. April 17, 1986. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ^ "Eberhart and Ginsberg Win Frost Poetry Medal". The New York Times. April 17, 1986. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
Sources
- Leckey, Susan (December 22, 2015). The Europa Directory of Literary Awards and Prizes. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-35632-3. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- US Congress (1960). Reports and Documents 1959-1960. Vol. 29. Retrieved February 14, 2026.