MFA Student Sierra Golden Wins American Poets Prize

Sierra Golden has won the prestigious Academy of American Poets Prize.

Golden is completing her MFA in poetry at NC State through the Creative Writing Program. For a number of years, Golden earned her living fishing for salmon and herring in  the northern Pacific with her father. Her poetry reflects and broadens that remarkable experience. At NC State, she was awarded an Alumni Fellowship.

The Academy of American Poets began awarding annual prizes to student poets at American universities and colleges in 1955. The program has expanded to include more than 200 schools.

At NC State, the prize is reserved for a graduate student. Poet Kevin Boyle, chair of the Department of English at Elon University, judged the national contest this year. Golden earned an honorable mention in NC State’s annual poetry contest last year.