Poet Cyrus Cassells receives $100,000 Jackson Poetry Prize for 'exceptional talent'

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NEW YORK (AP) — An admired and longtime poet whose subjects range from school integration to the memories of Holocaust survivors has won a $100,000 prize given for “exceptional talent.”

Poets & Writers announced Monday that Cyrus Cassells is this year's winner of the Jackson Poetry Prize, which was established in 2007 and has been previously awarded to Joy Harjo,Sonia Sanchez and Carl Phillips among others. A former Texas poet laureate, Cassells has published 11 books, including “More Than Peace and Cypresses,” “Soul Make a Path Through Shouting” and the compilation “Everything in Life is Resurrection.”

“In a world that is increasingly unstable, the brave compassion of these poems, both profound and hard won, is a rare and precious thing,” the judges' citation reads in part. “They’re intimate with pain, yes, with betrayal, racism, and cruelty, and they also show us how to recognize and protect the glimmers of hope that survive.”

Poets & Writers is a nonprofit established in 1970 with a mission “to foster the professional development of poets and writers, to promote communication throughout the literary community, and to help create an environment in which literature″ is widely appreciated.