Poet Katherine Larson Wins VCU’s Levis Reading Prize

By Tom Gresham

Katherine Larson’s debut collection, “Radial Symmetry,” has won the 15^th annual Levis Reading Prize from Virginia Commonwealth University for the best first or second book of poetry published in 2011.

The Levis Reading Prize program will honor Larson on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 8 p.m. at the Grace Street Theater, 934 W. Grace St. The event is free and open to the public, and a reception and book signing will follow the reading.

Larson will receive an honorarium of $2,000 and will travel to Richmond, all-expenses paid, for a reception and public reading at VCU on Sept. 20. The Levis Reading Prize is awarded in the name of the late Larry Levis, the distinguished poet and teacher who was a VCU professor until his death in 1996. The award was created to encourage poets early in their careers by recognizing the best first or second book of poetry published each year.

Larson’s “Radial Symmetry” was published by Yale University Press and selected by Louise Glück as the winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Larson’s work has appeared in AGNI, Boulevard, The Kenyon Review, The Massachusetts Review, Poetry and Poetry Northwest, among other publications. She is the recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship, the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Poetry Prize and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. In addition to writing, she has worked as a molecular biologist and field ecologist. She lives in Arizona with her husband and daughter.

The Levis Prize Committee recognized two finalists this year. They are Anthony Carelli for “Carnations,” which was published by Princeton University Press, and Brian Barker for “The Black Ocean,” which was published by Southern Illinois University Press.

The Levis Reading Prize is presented on behalf of VCU's MFA in Creative Writing Program. Sponsors include the VCU Department of English, the VCU Libraries, the VCU Honors College, Barnes & Noble @ VCU and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, with additional funding provided by the family of Larry Levis.

For further information about the Levis Reading Prize, see http://www.has.vcu.edu/eng/resources/levis_prize/levis_prize.htm, call 804-828-1329 or email kkiley@vcu.edu.