Lannan Literary Awards
5 appearances
Arthur Sze
アーサー・シー
Arthur Sze
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1950-01-01 （New York, New York, U.S.）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English, Chinese
- Residence History
- Queens / Garden City, New York → Santa Fe, New Mexico
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Translator, Writer, Professor
- Active Years
- 1972-
- Affiliations
- Institute of American Indian Arts — Professor Emeritus, Stanford University — Mohr Visiting Poet (visiting), Washington University in St. Louis — Visiting Hurst Professor, Mary Baldwin College — Doenges Visiting Artist
- Memberships
- Academy of American Poets (Chancellor), American Academy of Arts & Sciences (Member)
- Influenced By
- Jackson Mac Low, Taoist and Zen traditions
- Influenced
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrenceville School | — | — | — | 〜1968 | United States |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | — | — | — | 1968–1970 | United States |
| University of California, Berkeley | — | Poetry (self-directed major) | BA | 1970–1972 | United States |
Lawrenceville School
Period:
〜1968
Year of Graduation:
1968
Country:
United States
High school diploma
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Period:
1968–1970
Country:
United States
Attended 1968–1970; transferred in 1970
University of California, Berkeley
Poetry (self-directed major)
Degree:
BA
Period:
1970–1972
Year of Graduation:
1972
Country:
United States
Graduated Phi Beta Kappa
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Bollingen Prize for American Poetry (Lifetime Achievement) | — | — | Yale University | 受賞 |
| 2024 | Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Lifetime Achievement | — | — | Library of Congress | 受賞 |
| 2024 | National Book Foundation Science + Literature Award (selected title) | The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems | — | National Book Foundation | 選定 |
| 2022 | Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize | — | — | Poetry Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2021 | The Shelley Memorial Award | — | — | Poetry Society of America | 受賞 |
| 2020 | T' Space 8th Annual Poetry Award | — | — | T' Space | 受賞 |
| 2019 | National Book Award for Poetry | Sight Lines | — | National Book Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2015 | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (Finalist) | Compass Rose | — | Columbia University / Pulitzer Prize | ファイナリスト |
| 2013 | Jackson Poetry Prize | — | — | Poets & Writers | 受賞 |
| 2012 | Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry Grants | — | — | Witter Bynner Foundation | 受賞（複数年） |
| 2006 | Poet Laureate of Santa Fe | — | — | City of Santa Fe | 任命（2006–2008） |
| 2002 | Western States Book Award for Translation | Translation | — | Western States | 受賞 |
| 1997 | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship | — | — | Guggenheim Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1996 | American Book Award (Poetry) | Archipelago | — | Before Columbus Foundation (American Book Awards) | 受賞 |
| 1995 | Lannan Literary Award for Poetry | — | — | Lannan Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1993 | National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship | — | — | National Endowment for the Arts | 受賞（複数年あり） |
| 1991 | George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship | — | — | Howard Foundation | 受賞 |
Bollingen Prize for American Poetry (Lifetime Achievement)
2025
Organization:
Yale University
Result:
受賞
Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Lifetime Achievement
2024
Organization:
Library of Congress
Result:
受賞
National Book Foundation Science + Literature Award (selected title)
2024
Work:
The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
選定
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
2022
Organization:
Poetry Foundation
Result:
受賞
The Shelley Memorial Award
2021
Organization:
Poetry Society of America
Result:
受賞
T' Space 8th Annual Poetry Award
2020
Organization:
T' Space
Result:
受賞
National Book Award for Poetry
2019
Work:
Sight Lines
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (Finalist)
2015
Work:
Compass Rose
Organization:
Columbia University / Pulitzer Prize
Result:
ファイナリスト
Jackson Poetry Prize
2013
Organization:
Poets & Writers
Result:
受賞
Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry Grants
2012
Organization:
Witter Bynner Foundation
Result:
受賞（複数年）
Poet Laureate of Santa Fe
2006
Organization:
City of Santa Fe
Result:
任命（2006–2008）
Western States Book Award for Translation
2002
Work:
Translation
Organization:
Western States
Result:
受賞
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1997
Organization:
Guggenheim Foundation
Result:
受賞
American Book Award (Poetry)
1996
Work:
Archipelago
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation (American Book Awards)
Result:
受賞
Lannan Literary Award for Poetry
1995
Organization:
Lannan Foundation
Result:
受賞
National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship
1993
Organization:
National Endowment for the Arts
Result:
受賞（複数年あり）
George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship
1991
Organization:
Howard Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 17 (1996) Winner
Asian American Literary Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1999) Winner
Jackson Poetry Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 7 (2013) Winner
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
1 appearances
Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 18 (2024) Special Award
Bollingen Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 54 (2025) Winner
Works
Major Works
The Willow Wind
1972 PoetryEarly collection including poems and translations from Chinese.
naturetranslation
Archipelago
1995 PoetryA collection of poems that won the American Book Award.
islandsmemory
The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970–1998
1998 PoetryA retrospective collection of poems from 1970 to 1998.
timecosmos
Quipu
2005 PoetryA mid-career collection exploring knots of memory and associative thought.
memoryassociative chains
The Ginkgo Light
2009 PoetryPoems that weave nature, memory, and cultural roots.
natureEast Asian imagery
Compass Rose
2014 PoetryA mature collection combining geographic imagination and introspection. Finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize.
placeintrospectionnature
Sight Lines
2019 PoetryA collection focused on perspective and observation. Winner of the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry.
observationperspectivescientific imagery
The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems
2021 PoetryA new-and-collected volume; selected for the 2024 National Book Foundation Science + Literature Award.
sciencememorynature
Into the Hush
2025 PoetryMost recent collection (Copper Canyon, 2025) exploring hush, silence, and attention.
hushattentionbeing
Bibliography
- The Willow Wind (1972)
- Two Ravens (1976)
- Dazzled (1982)
- River River (1987)
- Archipelago (1995)
- The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970–1998 (1998)
- Quipu (2005)
- The Ginkgo Light (2009)
- Compass Rose (2014)
- Sight Lines (2019)
- Starlight Behind Daylight (2020)
- The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems (2021)
- The White Orchard: Selected Interviews, Essays, and Poems (2025)
- Into the Hush (2025)
- The Silk Dragon: Translations of Chinese Poetry (2001)
- The Silk Dragon II: Translations of Chinese Poetry (2024)
Translations by Author
- The Silk Dragon (translations of Chinese poetry)
- The Silk Dragon II (translations of Chinese poetry)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Clear, compressed poetic voice rooted in Zen and Taoist attention and observationPostmodern experimentation combining chains of images and fragments
- Recurring Motifs
- nature (trees, wind, rocks)memory and historyEast Asian cultural imageryscientific and astronomical imagery
Legacy
Arthur Sze (b. 1950) is an American poet, translator, and educator acclaimed for his precise observational poetics that blend East Asian sensibilities with scientific imagination. He became the 25th U.S. Poet Laureate in 2025, the first Asian American to hold the post, and has received numerous awards while contributing significantly to poetry education and advocacy.
Academic Societies
- Academy of American Poets
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Archives
- Poetry Foundation archives
- Library of Congress (related holdings)
Quotes
-
"The word 'compassion' is much overused, 'clarity' less so, but Arthur Sze is truly a poet of clarity and compassion."
Source: Jackson Mac Low (poet) -
"The surface is calm, while the depths are resonant... They move precisely through their patterns like a dancer."
Source: Critic R.W. French (review)
Trivia
- Named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2025 — 25th poet laureate and the first Asian American to hold the post.
- Professor emeritus at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
- Married to poet Carol Moldaw; has two children (one from a previous marriage).
- Descendant of S.C. Thomas Sze and related to Alfred Sao-ke Sze.