Judge: Laura Boss

If poetry were a physical sport, the energy, daring, and speed would qualify Denise Duhamel's poems in Two by Two for the Olympics. Yet with all her language electricity, Duhamel's generous and intelligent voice retains its power to connect with the reader on the deepest emotional landscape.

Laura Boss is the founder & editor of LIPS. Her books of poetry include the prize-winning On the Edge of the Hudson; also Reports from the Front, Stripping, and Arms: New and Selected Poems.

Judge: Grace Cavalieri

This is a book to place in a time capsule if we want to show the sensibilities of our culture
at this time --- a sparkling piece of fiction that shoulders the weight of history,
literature, and human relationships with equipoise. Kadish writes of our humanity
with style and humor. She knows what makes a novel worth reading, and how to
structure it so that big ideas feel as natural as the afternoon sun.

Grace Cavalieri is a writer with 14 books and 21 plays to her credit. She produces
"The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress" for public radio.