Annette Allen Poetry Prize Judge 2024/25
​​​​​​​Robert Eric Shoemaker is a poet and interdisciplinary artist. Eric is the author of Ca'Venezia (2021, Partial Press), We Knew No Mortality (2018, Acta Publications), and 30 Days Dry (2015, Thought Collection Publishing). Eric’s work has been published or is forthcoming in Zone 3, Tupelo Quarterly, Spoon River Poetry Review, Jacket2, ANMLY, Rattle, Asymptote, Exchanges, Signs and Society, and other journals. Eric earned a PhD from the University of Louisville and an MFA from Naropa University. Follow him at reshoemaker.com.

Dr. Robert Eric Shoemaker

2024/25 Prize Committee 
Diana Wilder (current UL doctoral student, Humanities) - Chair; UL Coordinator; Treasurer
Flora K.Schildknecht (UL PhD alum, Humanities)  - TLR and Metro Universities Liaison
Lynda Mercer (UL PhD alum, Humanities) - Communications and Donation Coordinator 
About the 3rd Annual Annette Allen Poetry Prize
Established in 2021, The Annette Allen Poetry Prize honors the late Dr. Annette Allen. Allen was instrumental in founding the Humanities PhD Program at the University of Louisville in 2002 and was a beloved mentor who advised numerous graduate theses and dissertations in many fields, but most notably in creative writing. 
    A poet as well as an academic, Dr. Allen published widely in poetry anthologies and journals and authored three books of poetry. Allen’s highly interdisciplinary poetry, which frequently engaged the arts and humanities, serves as inspiration for this award.
    The award is funded entirely by U Louisville Humanities PhD alumni and friends and family of Annette Allen. Institutional partners include The Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture; The Association of Humanities Academics (AHA, the U Louisville Humanities Graduate RSO); The University of Louisville Writing Center; and The Louisville Review, “A na
tional literary magazine since 1976.” 
The Annette Allen Poetry Prize is made possible through generous donations from alumni of the Humanities PhD Program at the University of Louisville and friends of Annette Allen.



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