'The 1619 Project: Born on the Water' wins 2022 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book have announced the 2022 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, presented annually to an American poet or anthologist for the most outstanding new book of poetry for children published in the previous calendar year. This year’s winner is “The 1619 Project: Born on the Water,” written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith, and published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. “'The 1619 Project: Born on the Water,'” said one judge, “is an American origin story filled with happiness, despair, then hope, and it explores the topic, ‘Where did I come from?’ through a student's class assignment. Readers will feel raw emotions from the poems, both joy and heartbreak.”

The authors will accept the award and $1,000 prize, courtesy of Lee Bennett Hopkins' estate, during a fall event. Additionally, judges gave an honor award to “The One Thing You'd Save,” written by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng, and published by Clarion, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

“Using the Korean poetry form, Sijo,” said a judge, “Linda Sue Park masterfully creates a series of short and inventive poems that come together in a revealing and authentic exploration of a classroom assignment. With humor and evocative feelings, the book invites young readers to experience poetry and create their own.”

The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award was named for the late internationally renowned educator, poet, anthologist and passionate advocate of poetry for young people. Established in 1993, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award was the first of its kind in the United States. The Pennsylvania Center for the Book and the Penn State University Libraries share joint administration of the annual award, and its winning titles are selected by a panel of authors, librarians, teachers and scholars. 

The 2022 judges for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award are chair Lynn Rutan, reviewer/blogger, retired school librarian, Holland, Michigan; Korey Erickson, library coordinator, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Jason J. Griffith, assistant professor of education at Penn State, University Park, Pennsylvania; Kathleen Kuo, program manager, Nevada Humanities, Las Vegas, Nevada; and John Micklos Jr., author, Newark, Delaware.

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book established in 1977 at the Library of Congress, encourages Pennsylvania’s citizens and residents to study, honor, celebrate and promote books, reading, libraries and literacy. In addition to the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, it also administers the Public Poetry Project, the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, Poems from Life, A Baker’s Dozen: The Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy, the Wordstruck: Micro Essay contest, and the interactive Literary & Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania.

For more information about the Hopkins Award, contact Caroline Wermuth at cvw1@psu.edu or 814-863-5472, or visit the Pennsylvania Center for the Book website.