Poet Jenny Xie has won the Walt Whitman Award for best debut
By Associated Press
Mar 29, 2017 7:03 AM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Poet Jenny Xie (SHUH) has won the Walt Whitman Award for an outstanding debut collection.

The Academy of American Poets told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Xie was chosen for "Eye Level." As winner of the Whitman prize, Xie will receive $5,000, a six-week residency in Italy and a publishing deal with Graywolf Press, which will release her book in April 2018. The country's poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera, served as judge for the Whitman award. In a statement, he praised "Eye Level" for its "beauty, clarity and expansive humanity."

The Whitman award was established in 1975. Previous winners include Judy Jordan, April Bernard and Tony Tost.