Congratulations, Benjamin Garcia!
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Benjamin’s prose poem, “Teseo & The Minotaur,” was selected by Joseph O. Legaspi as the winner of the New York Poetry Prize!
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About Benjamin:
Benjamin Garcia is a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in poetry. His first collection, THROWN IN THE THROAT, was selected for the National Poetry Series by Kazim Ali. A CantoMundo and Lambda Literary fellow, he teaches at Alma College’s low-residency MFA program. His poems and essays have appeared in: American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, and elsewhere.
About the prose poem, Joseph said that it was “strangely beautiful” and “effecting”! He selected it blindly from a list of Finalists, who will also be celebrated at the award ceremony in Chelsea, NY. Joseph mentioned that he loved the prose poem form, which Benjamin’s piece embodied wonderfully.
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Fun fact: the “prose poem” made it’s official appearance in early-19th-century France and was embraced by the Surrealist movement in the century that followed. It continues to shape contemporary poetics, as we’ve witnessed ourselves!
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Benjamin’s prose poem and Joseph's statement will be published in the following days, so stay tuned!
Use link below to learn more about the award ceremony taking place Saturday, August 15 :
https://torresandcompany.subfolios.com/submit
#Poetry #Prize #NewYork #Literature
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Congratulations also to the Finalists:
Chris Biscuiti
Margaret Geiger
George Lang
Brian Christopher Giddens
Andrew Gebhardt
zoe poush
Renia White
Don Hogle
Maureen Alsop
Richard Helfer
Kate Snider
Nick Rattner
Tori Sharpe
Anatoly Molotkov
Roger CraiK
A Kaiser
Fay Dillof
Irena Babamova Stojcheva
Maya Moon
Olivia Holmes
The New York Poetry Prize is administered annually by Torres & Company. It awards $1,000 for a single poem and inaugurates the poet at a venue in New York, New York on August 15, 2026.
The judge for the prize is the assistant to the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, Joseph O. Legaspi.
Joseph O. Legaspi, Fulbright scholar and two-time New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow, is author of three collections (Amphibian; Threshold; and Imago) and three chapbooks (Postcards; Aviary, Bestiary; and Subways). Legaspi’s works have appeared in POETRY, American Poetry Review,New England Review,World Literature Today, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, and the anthology Language for a New Century (W.W. Norton). He teaches at Fordham University and works at Columbia University. He resides with his husband in Queens, NY.
Receive $1,000 and read before a live audience in New York, New York!
Have your poetry inaugurated in the capital of the world!
For more information and content, follow on IG and FB:
@newyorkpoetryprize
We're excited to announce the judge of the New York Poetry Prize!
Mr. Legaspi assists with the administration of the Pulitzer Prizes at Colombia University. Send in your work to be considered by him for the New York Poetry Prize,
Learn more about Mr. Legaspi’s poetics at The Poetry Foundation.
About the Prize
Reading/contest fee: $20
Deadline: July 17th, 2026
Open to all poets and writers
Learn more: https://torresandcompany.subfolios.com/submit
All entrants are automatically considered for free admission to the awards ceremony in New York City. We look forward to seeing you there!
Executive Team
Judge: Joseph O. Legaspi
Administrator: Luis Torres
General Advisor: Brent Ameneyro, the senior editor at the Los Angeles Review
General Advisor: Sam Yaziji, the production editor at Poetry International