The Poetry Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2025 Pegasus Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in poetry and the literary arts. The honorees are Rigoberto González, Amy Stolls, and Kazim Ali. The awards ceremony will take place in Chicago in October 2025, followed by a free public reading at the Poetry Foundation on October 24, 2025.
“It is the Poetry Foundation’s great honor to recognize the extraordinary talents of Rigoberto González, Amy Stolls, and Kazim Ali for dedicating their lives and careers to supporting poetry,” said Michelle T. Boone, Poetry Foundation president and CEO.
Rigoberto González Wins Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
Rigoberto González, a distinguished professor of English and creative writing at Rutgers University-Newark, is the recipient of the 2025 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. This prestigious lifetime achievement award includes a $100,000 prize, making it one of the largest literary cash prizes in the United States.
González has authored 17 books across multiple genres, including criticism, memoir, fiction, and children’s books. The Poetry Foundation is honoring him for his poetry, which Poetry magazine editor Adrian Matejka described as “sumptuous and rich in its curiosities and carnalities.”
Matejka also highlighted González’s role as a mentor and advocate for other writers, noting, “He is both a creator of poems and a creator of space for others through his mentorship, critical work, and anthologies… His work on and off the page has inspired generations of writers.” A former critic for the LA Times, González is also the series editor for the Camino del Sol Latinx Literary Series at the University of Arizona Press.
Amy Stolls Honored with Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry
Amy Stolls received the Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry, an annual $25,000 prize recognizing exceptional work in the literary arts. Stolls is honored for her 26 years of distinguished service at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), where she championed writers, publishers, and literary institutions.
During her tenure, Stolls oversaw our major programs such as NEA fellowships, Poetry Out Loud, the Big Read, and the National Book Festival. The Poetry Foundation acknowledged her “deep empathy and insightful leadership” in enriching America’s literary landscape.
Kazim Ali Wins Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism
Kazim Ali has been named the recipient of the 2025 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism, a $10,000 prize that honors an outstanding book-length work of criticism published in the U.S. in the preceding year. Ali was recognized for his book, Black Buffalo Woman: An Introduction to the Poetry and Poetics of Lucille Clifton.
