The Sewanee Review has announced that for the first time the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry is being given to two worthy poets in the same year. The 26th and 27th recipients of the Aiken Taylor Award are Debora Greger and William Logan, and this year’s Aiken Taylor lectures, readings, receptions, and book-signings will take place March 19–21 on the campus of the University of the South.
The most significant prize administered by the Sewanee Review is the Aiken Taylor Award in Modern American Poetry established in 1987 to honor an accomplished American poet for the work of his or her career. Howard Nemerov was the first honored and has followed recently by Donald Hall, Louise Glück, and Billy Collins.
Debora Greger is a poet and visual artist who finds inspiration for each of her genres in the other. Known for her intersections of myth, fact, history, and everyday life—both in her poetry and her visual art—she is the author of eight books of poetry, from Movable Islands in 1980 to By Herself in 2012. Ms. Greger has exhibited her collage artwork at several galleries and museums across the country and has designed several book covers.
William Logan is a poet and literary critic known for formality and structure in his own writing and for his sometimes scathing but penetrating reviews. Since 1975 he has published a vast amount of work—both criticism and poetry—in such major publications as the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Paris Review, Poetry, and the New Criterion. He is the author of nine books of poetry, beginning with Sad-Faced Men in 1982 and continuing on to Madame X (2012). Along with essays and reviews, Mr. Logan has also written and edited six books of criticism.
Aiken Taylor events begin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, with a lecture by David Yezzi (editor of the New Criterion) on “The Perfect Moods of William Logan” in the McGriff Alumni House. This and all lectures and readings are followed by a reception and an opportunity to purchase books by the poets and lecturers. William Logan’s Aiken Taylor reading is Wednesday, March 20, at 5 p.m. in Convocation Hall. On Thursday, March 21, Emily Grosholz will lecture on “The Landscapes of Debora Greger” at 4 p.m. in the McGriff Alumni Hall. Debora Greger will give the final reading that evening at 8 p.m. in Convocation Hall.