Two Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships are awarded annually through a national competition open to undergraduate and graduate students in creative writing or English who are enrolled in a university or college at the time of the application. Students must be American citizens born on or after April 16, 1976, and must not have published a collection of poetry or had one accepted for future publication.
Program directors or department chairs are invited to nominate one, and only one student-poet from their programs. All nominations must be accompanied by an official application form, along with samples of the candidate’s work. Applications must be postmarked by April 15th. Students should include their name and address on each page of their submission.
In the special case of a young poet who is not currently enrolled in a university but who is independently pursuing a poetic career, nominations may be made by a teacher or colleague familiar with the poet’s work. Please note: if you are enrolled in a university at the time of the application, you must be nominated by your program director. If you have completed a graduate program in creative writing, you are ineligible.
Each Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship is in the amount of $15,000, for use in further studies of poetry. The Fellowship winners will be announced early in the Fall.
For more information, visit their website. The complete rules are available here (pdf).