Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not mentioned poetry. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published during the preceding calendar year.
Before the establishment of the award, the 1918 and 1919 Pulitzer cycles included three Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards for poetry books funded by "a special grant from The Poetry Society." See Special Pulitzers for Letters.
Harriet Monroe, founding publisher and long-time editor of Poetry magazine, wrote in an editorial, "The award of a Pulitzer Prize of one thousand dollars to the Collected Poems of Edwin Arlington Robinson is a most agreeable surprise, as this is the first Pulitzer Prize ever granted to a poet. Four years ago, when the Poetry Society of America gave its first annual five hundred dollars to Sara Teasdale's Love Songs, the award, being made in conjunction with the Pulitzer prizes, was falsely attributed to the same origin."
Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.

Winners

In its first 92 years to 2013, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry was awarded 92 times. Two were given in 2008, none in 1946. Robert Frost won the prize four times and several others won it more than once.

Year	Poet	Title
1918		Love Songs
1919		Cornhuskers
1919		The Old Road to Paradise

Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals received two or more Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry :

Wins	Poet	Years
4	Robert Frost	1924, 1931, 1937, 1943
3	Edwin Arlington Robinson	1922, 1925, 1928
2	Stephen Vincent Benét	1929, 1944
2	Robert Lowell	1947, 1974
2	Archibald MacLeish	1933, 1953
2	William S. Merwin	1971, 2009
2	Carl Sandburg	1919, 1951
2	Robert Penn Warren	1958, 1979
2	Richard Wilbur	1957, 1989

The following individuals received two or more nominations:
Bolded years are years that the poet won

Nominations	Poet	Years
5	Charles Wright	1982, 1983, 1985, 1996, 1998
4	Frank Bidart	1998, 2003, 2009, 2018
4	Robert Frost	1924, 1931, 1937, 1943
4	Adrienne Rich	1990, 1992, 2000, 2017
3	Edwin Arlington Robinson	1922, 1925, 1928
3	Charles Simic	1986, 1987, 1990
2	John Ashbery	1976, 1993
2	Stephen Vincent Benét	1929, 1944
2	Forrest Gander	2012, 2019
2	Jack Gilbert	1983, 2013
2	Louise Glück	1993, 2002
2	Anthony Hecht	1968, 1991
2	Richard Hugo	1980, 1981
2	Donald Justice	1980, 1996
2	Robert Lowell	1947, 1974
2	Archibald MacLeish	1933, 1953
2	James Merril	1977, 1993
2	William S. Merwin	1971, 2009
2	Carl Sandburg	1919, 1951
2	Diane Seuss	2016, 2022
2	Mark Strand	1981, 1999
2	Dave Smith	1980, 1982
2	Robert Penn Warren	1958, 1979
2	Richard Wilbur	1957, 1989
2	C.K. Williams	1988, 1998
2	Franz Wright	2002, 2004

Robert Frost won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times from 1924 to 1943. Edwin Arlington Robinson won three prizes during the 1920s and several people, all male, have won two.
Carl Sandburg won one of the special prizes for his poetry in 1919 and won the Poetry Pulitzer in 1951.
Only four women have had multiple nominations: Adrienne Rich with 4, and Louise Glück, Jorie Graham and Diane Seuss with 2 each.