A winner of the 2009 National Poetry Series Prize as selected by Paul Guest (author of My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge and recipient of the 2007 Whiting Award), Erika Meitner’s work perpetuates NPS’s tradition of promoting exceptional poetry from lesser known poets.

Exploring themes of pregnancy, motherhood, ancestry, and life in the borderline slums of Washington, DC, Meitner’s richly felt and adroit poems offers the surprise of a new voice.

For thirty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new and emerging voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Cole Swensen, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.