On September 23, 2023, Patricia Spears 琼斯, adjunct associate professor of English, was named a New York State Poet 和 awarded the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit for 诗歌.
琼斯’ creative career has been incredibly expansive, from poetry to playwriting 和 from teaching to activism. She has published poems in several prestigious publications, including 《世界十大电子游戏平台》, 布鲁克林铁路, 羽. Her work has also been included in several anthologies, including African American 诗歌: 250 Years of Struggle 和 Song 和 Why To These Rocks: 50 Years of Poems from the 社区 of Writers. Her fifth (和 newest) poetry collection, 亲爱的社区, which was published on September 26, 2023, “interrogates the necessity 和 fragility of human bonds.”
国家诗人奖, alongside the state author award, was established in 1985 by former Governor Mario Cuomo 和 is presented once every other year by the New York State Writers Institute. Honorees receive $10,000 和 retain the position for two years.