English professor Erin Belieu receives 2016 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award

Erin Belieu, a poet and professor of English at Florida State University, has been named a recipient of the 2016 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award by Poets & Writers magazine.

Erin Belieu, professor of English at Florida State.

Along with fellow writers Cate Marvin and Ann Townsend, Belieu was recognized for cofounding VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, a research-driven organization that aims to increase critical attention to contemporary women’s writing as well as further transparency around gender equality issues in contemporary literary culture. The VIDA Count, an annual tally of the gender of authors published, reviewed, and reviewing in major publications, serves to “fan the flames of necessary discourse,” as the group's website states. It has caused some editors and publishers to reexamine their editorial processes and has sparked similar conversations in other disciplines.

The Writers for Writers Award was established by Poets & Writers in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community. It is named for the bookseller Barnes & Noble in appreciation of the company’s loyal sponsorship of Poets & Writers.

Belieu and the other award recipients were honored at Poets & Writers’ annual dinner, “In Celebration of Writers,” on March 22 in New York City.

Belieu, who directors FSU’s creative writing program, is the author of four poetry collections, including the recent “Slant Six” (2014), which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was chosen as one of the 10 best books of the year in The New York Times. Her work is published by Copper Canyon Press. Her poems have appeared in magazines including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Tin House, Ploughshares, and in several editions of Best American Poetry.