James A. Autry Award for Poetry & Leadership
This award is given to a person with strong ties to the Iowa poetry community for inspirational leadership in advancing arts and culture, enhancing community enrichment, and ensuring the future of humanities.
About the Award
In 2023 at the inaugural Poetry Palooza, we honored James A. Autry for his inspirational leadership of the poetry community. He played a critical role in founding and carrying on the Des Moines National Poetry Festival, which inspired the founding of Poetry Palooza. We created the James A. Autry Award for Poetry & Leadership to honor those who carry his dedication to poetry in their work. This award consists of a plaque and a gift, which is presented each year during the Poetry Palooza Welcome Reception & Award Ceremony.
Past Recipients
2024: Debra Marquart
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Debra Marquart is a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences and teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Environment at Iowa State University, as well as the Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA Program at University of Southern Maine. Marquart served as Iowa’s Poet Laureate until 2024 and the Senior Editor of Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment. The author of seven books—including The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere and Small Buried Things: Poems—Marquart has been featured on NPR and the BBC and has received over 50 grants and awards including an NEA Fellowship, a PEN USA Award, a New York Times Editors’ Choice commendation, and Elle Magazine’s Elle Lettres Award.
In 2021, Marquart was awarded a Poets Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. Her most recent books are The Night We Landed on the Moon: Essays Between Exile & Belonging (2021) and a poetry collection, Gratitude with Dogs Under Stars: New & Collected Poems (2023). For more information: debramarquart.com
2023: James A. Autry
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Autry is a former Fortune 500 executive, who is also an author, poet and business coach. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife, Sally, and their son, Ronald. Additionally, he has two other sons, Jim and Rick, and two grandsons, Eric and Brian.
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Autry has authored 15 books. His most recent publication is also his first foray into children's literature. Everyday Virtues: Classic Tales to Read with Kids is his first father/son collaboration, co-authored by his son, Rick. Autry's previous publications include books on servant leadership, gratitude, and business poetry (among other topics).
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Read more about Autry at jamesaautry.com.