Poetry Foundation Names Jack Prelutsky First Children's Poet Laureate

Jack Prelutsky is the inaugural winner of the Children's Poet Laureate award from the Poetry Foundation. The announcement was made at the third annual Pegasus Awards ceremony last night on the stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago.

The new award aims to raise awareness that children have a natural receptivity to poetry and are its most appreciative audience, especially when poems are written specifically for them. Findings from the Poetry Foundation's recent research study - "Poetry in America" - demonstrate that a lifelong love for poetry is most likely to result if cultivated early in childhood and reinforced thereafter.

About the Pegasus Awards

The Poetry Foundation believes that targeted prizes can help recognize underappreciated accomplishments and diversify the kinds of poetry being written as well as widen the audience for the art form. With this in mind, the Poetry Foundation has established a family of prizes with an emphasis on under- recognized poets and types of poetry. Inaugurated in 2004, the Pegasus Awards honor achievements not already acknowledged by other poetry prizes.

About the Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine and one of the largest literary organizations in the world, exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit http://www.PoetryFoundation.org

To read the press release regarding this new award go to http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=7...