A cozy, warmly lit corner of a room featuring a wooden desk, a small wooden stool, a window with a view of green trees and grass outside, a flowerpot on the windowsill, a black hanging lamp, and a framed portrait on the wooden-paneled wall.

Prize for POetry

It is curious that flower-soft verse
Is sometimes harder than granite, 
tougher than a steel cable, more alive than life.

- Robinson Jeffers

Robinson Jeffers Tor House prize for Poetry

The annual Tor House Prize for Poetry is a living memorial to American poet Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)

Announcing the 2026 Prize for Poetry Winners

We are pleased to announce that the 2026 Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry is awarded to:

Stephen Ruffus
Salt Lake City, Utah
for his poem
“Setting the Stone”

Read his poem and the four honorable mentions.

Past Winners

Prize for Poetry Winners
2026 Prize for Poetry Winners

Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry, 2026 Winners

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2025 Prize for Poetry Winners

Winner: Alison Turner

Honorable Mentions:
Partridge Boswell
Donald Levering
Ingrid Wendt

Judge: Alicia Ostriker

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2024 Prize for Poetry Winners

Winner: Story Rhinehart

Honorable Mentions:
Shutta Crum
Loss Pequeño Glazier
Justin Hunt

Judge: Sun Yung Shin

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2023 Prize for Poetry Winners

Winner: Daniel Williams

Honorable Mentions:
Dan Grote
Michele Herman
Ari Mokdad
Valerie Nieman

Judge: Juan Felipe Herrera

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2022 Prize for Poetry Winners

Winner: John Blair

Honorable Mentions:
David Bailey
Carson Colenbaugh
Winifred Hughes
L.J. Sysko

Judge: Forrest Gander

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2021 Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry

The annual Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry was established twenty-five years ago as a living memorial in honor of American poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962).

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