Florida man wins UA poetry prize

Stephen Gibson has won the 2017 Miller Williams Poetry Prize from the University of Arkansas Press.

Gibson's book, Self-Portrait in a Door-Length Mirror, was chosen for the honor by Billy Collins, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, and will be published by the press this spring.

Gibson lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., and is a retired professor who worked at Palm Beach State College.

He will receive a $5,000 cash prize. Gibson has had several poetry collections published previously and won other honors for his work, including the Donald Justice Poetry Prize.

Three finalists also will have work published by the press: Jennifer Givhan, Laura McCullough and Frances Schenkkan.

Williams co-founded the University of Arkansas Press and was an acclaimed poet, reading his work during the second inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

The poetry prize named for him dates to the Arkansas Poetry Prize, first awarded in 1990.

State Desk on 07/22/2016

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