Collaborations with Pitt Poetry Series

From 1967–1976, a jury of poet-judges including Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wilbur, May Swenson, and others presented the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award and International Award, which included manuscript publication through the University of Pittsburgh Press. These awards gave rise to the Pitt Poetry Series, which remains a major voice in poetry publishing today.

During this period, the International Poetry Forum—an independent nonprofit organization—and the University of Pittsburgh Press collaborated in publishing nearly 50 books, including works by Archibald MacLeish, May Swenson, and Nobel Laureates Tomas Tranströmer and Odysseus Elytis.

  • Book cover for "Looking for Jonathan" by Jon Anderson, featuring a stylized eye with fingerprint-like lines in green and black, and a pink asterisk symbol.

    Jon Anderson, LOOKING FOR JONATHAN (1968)

  • A cover of a poetry book titled "Learning the Way" by James Den Boer. The cover features a stylized black silhouette of trees with abstract shapes in blue and brown, and the title in large black text.

    James Den Boer, LEARNING THE WAY (1968)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Book cover of "The Homer Mitchell Place" by John Engels showing a stylized illustration of a green church tower with an arched window and a cross on top, set against a patterned orange background.

    John Engels, THE HOMER MITCHELL PLACE (1968)

  • Book cover titled "Blood Rights" by Samuel Hazo, with a large red circle in the center, a worn and aged appearance, and a cityscape silhouette at the bottom.

    Samuel Hazo, BLOOD RIGHTS (1968)

  • The cover of a book titled "Body Compass" by David Steingass, with a map illustration featuring a large black dragonfly silhouette in the foreground.

    David Steingass, BODY COMPASS (1968)

  • Book cover titled "The Invention of New Jersey" by Jack Anderson, with a graphic design featuring nature illustrations and an exit sign. Published by Pitt Poetry Series.

    Jack Anderson, THE INVENTION OF NEW JERSEY (1969)

  • Cover of a book titled "Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca Selected Poems," translated by Talât Sait Halman. The cover features an abstract geometric design with black shapes, gold, and a red circle in the center, set against a light yellow background.

    Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, SELECTED POEMS (1969)

    Translated by Talât Sait Halman; recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Book cover for "First Practice" by Gary Gildner, with a pink and black abstract floral design.

    Gary Gildner, FIRST PRACTICE (1969)

  • Cover of a book titled "Sweating Out the Winter" by David P. Young. The cover features a black silhouette of a person flying a glider airplane and a pattern of blue and white snowflakes.

    David P. Young, SWEATING OUT THE WINTER (1969)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Cover of a book titled "Death & Friends" by Jon Anderson, featuring vintage-style black swirling designs on a brown background.

    Jon Anderson, DEATH & FRIENDS (1970)

    Finalist for the National Book Award

  • Book cover of "Another Kind of Rain" by Gerald W. Barrax, featuring a black swirling pattern on a gray background with a small red figure at the bottom.

    Gerald W. Barrax, ANOTHER KIND OF RAIN (1970)

  • Cover of a book titled "Collected Poems" by Abbie Huston Evans, featuring abstract illustrations of a snail, a mushroom, and a fish with stylized flames in the background.

    Abbie Huston Evans, COLLECTED POEMS (1970)

  • Vintage book cover titled "Dear John, Dear Coltrane" by Michael S. Harper, featuring black and white line illustrations of two men, one with glasses and long hair, and the other with short hair. The cover has a beige background with black and brown text and artwork.

    Michael S. Harper, DEAR JOHN, DEAR COLTRANE (1970)

    Finalist for the National Book Award

  • Book cover titled "The Floor Keeps Turning" by Shirley Kaufman, with geometric design featuring concentric circles and a large yellow and blue abstract shape.

    Shirley Kaufman, THE FLOOR KEEPS TURNING (1970)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • The cover of a book titled "When The King Is A Boy" by Ed Roberson, featuring a stylized illustration of a woman with a purple dress and a black bear with a purple face, against a gray background.

    Ed Roberson, WHEN THY KING IS A BOY (1970)

  • The cover of a book titled "The Blood of Adonis" featuring a stylized black and white drawing of a leaf hanging from a tree branch against a colorful, abstract background with pink, red, brown, orange, and yellow sections.

    Adonis, THE BLOOD OF ADONIS (1971)

    Translated by Samuel Hazo; recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Book cover titled "Trying to Come Apart" by James Den Boer, featuring marbled green and black design with a clock graphic and vertical blue text strip.

    James Den Boer, TRYING TO COME APART (1971)

  • Book cover titled "Alpheus Sonnets" by Norman Dubie, part of the Pitt Poetry Series, with abstract design featuring a black and yellow stylized face and a sun symbol, price $2.75, published by Pitt Paperback 67.

    Norman Dubie, ALEHOUSE SONNETS (1971)

  • Cover of a book titled 'Digging for Indians' by Gary Gildner, published by Pitt Poetry Series, priced at $2.95. The cover features abstract, flowing shapes in red, orange, yellow, and brown, with an illustration of a skeletal figure or artifact at the bottom.

    Gary Gildner, DIGGING FOR INDIANS (1971)

  • Book cover titled "Uncle Time" by Dennis Scott, featuring a black silhouette of an afro hairstyle and the outline of the island of Jamaica filled with the repeated phrase "UNCLE TIME."

    Dennis Scott, UNCLE TIME (1971)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Book cover titled 'The Tattooed Desert' by Richard Shelton, featuring a stylized illustration of a desert landscape with a pyramid-shaped tent, surrounded by trees and a coyote, in a vintage style with black, red, and yellow colors.

    Richard Shelton, THE TATTOOED DESERT (1971)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • A book cover with a white top section and a black bottom section. The top section features the title 'Song: I Want a Witness' and the author Michael S. Harper in pink text. The bottom section shows a silhouette of leafless trees against an orange background with a red circle and a pink profile of a woman's face. The cover has a slightly aged appearance with some creases.

    Michael S. Harper, SONG: I WANT A WITNESS (1972)

  • Book cover for "Once for the Last Bandit" by Samuel Hazo with abstract colorful wave design.

    Samuel Hazo, ONCE FOR THE LAST BANDIT (1972)

    Finalist for the National Book Award

  • A paperback book cover titled "Wrecking Crew" by Larry Levis, featuring a green butterfly on a red and black abstract background with an illustration of a lantern.

    Larry Levis, WRECKING CREW (1972)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Book cover of "Of All the Dirty Words" by Richard Shelton, featuring an illustration of a person's head with the face made up of jumbled, distorted letters. The cover has a cream background with orange and brown accents, and labels indicating it is part of the Pitt Poetry Series and published by University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Richard Shelton, OF ALL THE DIRTY WORDS (1972)

  • Book cover titled "Windows & Stones: Selected Poems" by Tomas Tranströmer, translated from Swedish by May Swenson, with Leif Sjöberg. Features an illustration of an eye with a window in its pupil and blue, green, and black colors.

    Tomas Tranströmer, WINDOWS & STONES: SELECTED POEMS (1972)

    Translated by May Swenson and Leif Sjöberg. Finalist for the National Book Award; recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award; 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature

  • The cover of a poetry book titled 'Gold Country' by Shirley Kautman, featuring a design with green grass on the top, a blue background with stylized fish and waves, and a small yellow and black fish at the bottom.

    Shirley Kaufman, GOLD COUNTRY (1973)

  • Book cover titled 'A Canopy in the Desert: Selected Poems' by Abba Kovner, translated by Shirley Kaufman, with Ruth Adler and Nurit Orchan. The cover features a beige background with pink and red balloons and a swirling pattern.

    Abba Kovner, A CANOPY IN THE DESERT (1973)

    Translated by Shirley Kaufman with Ruth Adler and Nurit Orchan; recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Cover of a book titled 'Eskimo Poems from Canada and Greenland,' featuring an illustration of a reindeer with antlers blending into the moon in a winter landscape.

    Tom Lowenstein (trans.), ESKIMO POEMS FROM CANADA AND GREENLAND (1973)

    From material originally collected by Knud Rasmussen. Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Book cover of '101 Different Ways of Playing Solitaire' by Belle Randall, featuring an illustration of a woman on a black and white background.

    Belle Randall, 101 DIFFERENT WAYS OF PLAYING SOLITAIRE AND OTHER POEMS (1973)

  • Cover of the book 'American Handbook' by David Steingass, featuring a black and white outline of a house with red wavy stripes over it, and text indicating the price as $2.95 and the author name in red.

    David Steingass, AMERICAN HANDBOOK (1973)

  • Book cover for '48 Small Poems' by Marc Weber, featuring an illustrated side profile of a person's head with a colorful, segmented diagram of a brain inside.

    Marc Weber, 48 SMALL POEMS (1973)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Book cover for 'In Sepia' by Jon Anderson, featuring a black-and-white sepia-toned photograph of a house with a large clock superimposed on the front.

    Jon Anderson, IN SEPIA (1974)

  • Book cover titled 'After Our War' by John Balaban, part of the Pitt Poetry Series. The cover design features a collage of small, densely packed text in black on a beige background, with a faded image of a person's face overlaid by the text.

    John Balaban, AFTER OUR WAR (1974)

  • Cover of the book titled 'The Lost Heroes' by Michael Cuilross, with a beige background and a red textured pattern

    Michael Culross, THE LOST HEROES (1974)

  • The cover of the book "The Axion Esti" with a white background, black and red text, and an abstract black, white, and red graphic featuring concentric circles and sharp red strokes.

    Odysseus Elytis, THE AXION ESTI (1974)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award; 1979 Nobel Prize in Literature

  • Book cover of "No Time for Good Reasons" by Brendan Galvin, priced at $2.95, with a gold and white design and a patterned gold lower section.

    Brendan Galvin, NO TIME FOR GOOD REASONS (1974)

  • Book cover of 'Quartered' by Samuel Hazo, featuring a circular compass rose or navigational instrument with markings and directions, in gold, black, and pink colors, on a red background.

    Samuel Hazo, QUARTERED (1974)

  • Cover of a book titled 'Lake Songs and Other Fears' by Judith Minty, with a multicolored background, a stylized illustration of a snake, and a bird, published by Pitt Paperbacks in 1985.

    Judith Minty, LAKE SONGS AND OTHER FEARS (1974)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Cover of a book titled 'Disguises' by Herbert Scott, featuring a design with black text on a green background, and a beige background at the top.

    Herbert Scott, DISGUISES (1974)

  • Book cover titled 'Learning to Count' by Alberta T. Turner, part of the Pitt Poetry Series, priced at $2.95, with a predominantly white upper section and a blue lower section filled with black text.

    Alberta T. Turner, LEARNING TO COUNT (1974)

  • Book cover titled 'The Great American Fourth of July Parade' by Archibald MacLeish, with a black background and simple white and red text.

    Archibald MacLeish, THE GREAT AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY PARADE (1975)

    Bicentennial Selection of the International Poetry Forum; supported by a grant from the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. Play premiered in Pittsburgh at the International Poetry Forum with Academy Award-winners Melvyn Douglas and John Houseman and Tony Award-winner George Grizzard

  • A book cover featuring a stylized black silhouette of a bridge, with the title 'Exile' and the author's name 'Thomas Rabbitt' in blue text. The book is part of the Pitt Poetry Series, priced at $2.95, and is a paperback edition numbered 100.

    Thomas Rabbitt, EXILE (1975)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Green book cover for 'The Growl of Deeper Waters' by Denis de Rougemont, translated by Samuel Hazo with Beth Luey, featuring abstract circular art.

    Denis de Rougemont, THE GROWL OF DEEPER WATERS (1976)

    Translated by Samuel Hazo and Beth Luey; recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Close-up of the book cover for Mark Halperin's collection of poetry titled "Backroads" with bright colors and sunburst design.

    Mark Halperin, BACKROADS (1976)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • Book cover titled "The Terror of the Snows: Selected Poems" by Paul-Marie Lapointe, translated from French by D. G. Jones, featuring a black background with a white silhouette of a snowflake or frost pattern.

    Paul-Marie Lapointe, THE TERROR OF THE SNOWS (1976)

    Translated by Douglas Jones; recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s International Award

  • Book cover titled 'Collected Poems' by Dannie Abse, part of the Pitt Poetry Series, featuring a faded wooden background with a rust-colored abstract design.

    Dannie Abse, COLLECTED POEMS 1948–1976 (1977)

  • Book cover of 'The Elements of San Joaquin' by Gary Soto, featuring a design with purple smoke, a black ornamental pattern, and a small white ant on a green section.

    Gary Soto, THE ELEMENTS OF SAN JOAQUIN (1977)

    Recipient of the International Poetry Forum’s United States Award

  • The cover of a book titled 'Reading the Ashes: An Anthology of the Poetry of Modern Macedonia', edited by Milne Holton and Graham W. Reid. The cover features a red graphic of a stylized figure and text in black and red.

    Milne Holton and Graham W. Reid (ed.), READING THE ASHES: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE POETRY OF MODERN MACEDONIA (1977)

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