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.

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