The University of Notre Dame鈥檚 , the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English, has won the for her work in poetry.
McSweeney, who chairs the in the , was one of eight writers to win the prestigious annual global literary award, administered by Yale University鈥檚 Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, which recognizes exemplary work across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
Winners receive $175,000 to support their work and focus on their creative practice free from financial concerns. With annual prize money exceeding $1.4 million 鈥� and total prize money awarded over the past decade at over $20 million 鈥� it is one of the most significant prizes in the world.
McSweeney was recognized by the prize鈥檚 anonymous selection committee for her 鈥渃omplex, powerful, and contemplative ecopoetic writing, exploring nature, trauma, style, and resilience through the 鈥榥ecropastoral鈥�, whilst subverting our understanding of contemporary language.鈥�
鈥淛oyelle McSweeney鈥檚 wildly imaginative, rageful poems turn decay into sustenance and go on defying death by thriving on rot,鈥� they wrote.
McSweeney has written nine books, her most recent being the 2024 poetry collection Death Styles. Her 2022 double poetry collection, Toxicon and Arachne, was named a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Award and won the Shelley Memorial Prize from the Poetry Society of America. McSweeney wrote the first part during the years leading up to the birth of her third daughter, Arachne, and wrote the second part in the spring following Arachne鈥檚 brief life and death.
She attributes her work to an 鈥渙bsession鈥� over the idea that what we think is over is indeed not over and that she writes her poetry to come alive in the moment of performance.
鈥淧oetry, for me, is a quest to find out why we have to live this way, what the gods might have in store for us, how we can get back what we lost, and what we can give to each other,鈥� she said.
In addition to the Windham-Campbell Prize, McSweeney was a won a , an , and is a . She also led Notre Dame鈥檚 for four years.
鈥淭his prize recognizes the body of work I鈥檝e created during my 20 years here at Notre Dame, in which I鈥檝e been inspired and supported by so many colleagues in every discipline,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n this sense, this prize also recognizes Notre Dame鈥檚 unwavering support for research and creativity across science, humanities, and the arts. We need every route to Truth, and we need to do it together.鈥�
Originally published by at on April 09, 2026.