Created by Raymond and Margaret Nelson – Dr. Raymond Nelson and Margaret Nelson joined KAC in 1979. Both served in various offices, including state president, Raymond from 1984-1986, and Margaret Nelson from 1994-1995. The couple began awarding the Nelson Poetry Book Award in 2002.
Nelson Poetry Book Award
Award Winners
2022 Gravedigger's Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town, by Cheryl Unruh, Emporia, D2
2021 Some Electric Hum, by Janice Northerns, Liberal, D7
2020 The News as Usual, by Jon Kelly Yenser, New Mexico, D7
2019 Stage Whispers, Roy Beckemeyer, Wichita, D5
2018 Acacia Road, Aaron Brown, D6
2017 Human Ink, Michael Poage, Wichita, D5
2016 Certain Streets at an Uncertain Hour, Jeff Tigchelaar, Topeka, non-member
2015 While the Kettle’s On, Melissa Fite Johnson, Pittsburg, non-member
2014 Autochthonous: Found in Place, Dan Pohl, Wichita, D5
2013 Sonny Kenner's Red Guitar, Kevin Rabas, Emporia, D2
2012 The Afterlives of Trees, Wyatt Townley, Shawnee Mission, D2
2011 Soul's Night Out, Nedra Rogers, Lawrence, non-member
2010 Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano, by Kevin Rabas, D2
2009 Snake in the Cradle, Lora K. Reiter, Ottawa. D2
2008 The Uni Verse, a Journey into Our Amazing Cosmos, Tom Mach, Lawrence, D2
2007 Home Schooled, Larry Rochelle, Pittsboro, NC, D2
2006 voyeur poems, Matthew Porubsky, Topeka, non-member
2005 For Crying Out Loud!!, Naomi Patterson, Topeka, D1
2004 Oracle of the Heart, Muriel T. Stackley, Kansas City, non-member
2004 Dust Devils: Collisions With the Wind, Larry Rochelle, Overland Park, D2
2003 Corntrails in the Wind, Ruth S. Stunz, Wichita, D5
2002 Sixty Years of Poetry, Lawrence Harshbarger, Junction City, D4
Award Winners
2022 Gravedigger's Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town, by Cheryl Unruh, Emporia, D2
2021 Some Electric Hum, by Janice Northerns, Liberal, D7
2020 The News as Usual, by Jon Kelly Yenser, New Mexico, D7
2019 Stage Whispers, Roy Beckemeyer, Wichita, D5
2018 Acacia Road, Aaron Brown, D6
2017 Human Ink, Michael Poage, Wichita, D5
2016 Certain Streets at an Uncertain Hour, Jeff Tigchelaar, Topeka, non-member
2015 While the Kettle’s On, Melissa Fite Johnson, Pittsburg, non-member
2014 Autochthonous: Found in Place, Dan Pohl, Wichita, D5
2013 Sonny Kenner's Red Guitar, Kevin Rabas, Emporia, D2
2012 The Afterlives of Trees, Wyatt Townley, Shawnee Mission, D2
2011 Soul's Night Out, Nedra Rogers, Lawrence, non-member
2010 Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano, by Kevin Rabas, D2
2009 Snake in the Cradle, Lora K. Reiter, Ottawa. D2
2008 The Uni Verse, a Journey into Our Amazing Cosmos, Tom Mach, Lawrence, D2
2007 Home Schooled, Larry Rochelle, Pittsboro, NC, D2
2006 voyeur poems, Matthew Porubsky, Topeka, non-member
2005 For Crying Out Loud!!, Naomi Patterson, Topeka, D1
2004 Oracle of the Heart, Muriel T. Stackley, Kansas City, non-member
2004 Dust Devils: Collisions With the Wind, Larry Rochelle, Overland Park, D2
2003 Corntrails in the Wind, Ruth S. Stunz, Wichita, D5
2002 Sixty Years of Poetry, Lawrence Harshbarger, Junction City, D4