01/29/2026
The Poetry Society of America is pleased to announce that Mei-mei Berssenbrugge is the 2026 recipient of the Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry. First given in 1930, the Frost Medal is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in American poetry and is awarded annually at the discretion of the PSA's Board of Governors. Previous award winners include Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery, Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds, Joy Harjo, and, most recently, Nikki Giovanni.
Born in Beijing, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge is the author of fourteen books of poetry, including Hello, the Roses; Empathy; I Love Artists; and A Treatise on Stars, shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Her collaborations span theater, dance, music, and the visual arts. She received the Bollingen Prize for poetry in 2020. She received the Mary McCarthy award for engagement in the public sphere in 2022, and her work with George Lewis and The Crossing Choir received a Grammy Award in 2025. She has also received two NEA fellowships, two Asian American Writers' Workshop awards, and two American Book Awards. She has taught at the Institute for American Indian Arts, where she was a founding editor of Tyuonyi magazine. She lives in New Mexico and New York City.
from the Frost Medal citation:
A much revered poet, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge’s poetry is a vital testament of the rich interplay between the arts, the imagination as an interceding force, and our ability to discern our lives in ways that enrich and allow for further evolution beyond its own making.
https://ow.ly/GsUI50Y5vev
