A Theory of Birds by Zaina Alsous has been named a finalist for the 2021 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. The book has previously won the 2020 The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award from the Arab American Book Awards and the 2020 Norma Farber Award from the Poetry Society of America.
This year’s finalists in the Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards were selected by a judging committee led by Timothy Donnelly. A total of ten finalists (5 in each category) were chosen from some 400 submissions. The winners of each category will be announced in early April.
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award provides $10,000 to an emerging poetic voice, while the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award presents $100,000 to a mid-career poet to help them on their journey. In 2019 Teeth Never Sleep by Ángel García was named a finalist for the Kate Tufts Award, and in 2005, Chattahoochee by Patrick Phillips won the award.
A Theory of Birds is the winner of the 2019 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. Every year the University of Arkansas Press, together with the Radius of Arab American Writers, awards the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize for a first or second book of poetry in English by a writer of Arab heritage. The series is edited by Hayan Charara and Fady Joudah and supported by the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Arkansas.