The Lyric Poetry Award of 2020 goes to Civitellian Michael Dumanis (CRF 2009), for his, “The Empire of Light.”
Hanif Abdurraqib on Michael Dumanis: “I am choosing The Empire of Light as my winning poem for the lyric contest. I think the definition of what a lyric poem is can be broad, and I loved the way many of these poems explored the vastness of the form. I love this poem for how it uses language to bounce generously between scenes. How the imagery is playful and speaks to the a type of wonder I still crave, even now: the ability to take in the world as if I am doing it for the first time.”
Read the poem here.