We are thrilled to announce to you that Jillian Weise has been awarded the 2013 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets for her second poetry collection The Book of Goodbyes (BOA Editions, 2013). Established in 1954, the James Laughlin Award is given annually to recognize and support the year’s most outstanding second book by a U.S. poet. It is the only second-book award for poetry in the United States. As recipient of the award, Jillian Weise will receive a $5,000 prize from the Academy of American Poets. The award ceremony will be held on October 25, 2013, at The New School in New York, NY. The ceremony, which will take place during the Academy's annual Poets Forum, is open to the public. Upon hearing that she had won the 2013 James Laughlin Award, Jillian Weise stated, “I’ve been a fan of the James Laughlin Poets for years. So it’s an honor to join them. I want to thank the judges, the Academy of American Poets, my editor Peter Conners and everybody at BOA Editions. I’m over the moon.” While this is Weise’s second poetry collection overall, it is her first to be published by BOA Editions. The book chronicles an affair with a man named “Big Logos,” and the poems throw into question sex, the law, identity, sentiment and power. A Publishers Weekly starred review calls The Book of Goodbyes “…a smart and savvy ode to absences—of a lover, of a self, and of a part of the self, literal and figurative ... a brilliant book ultimately about connection.” Other BOA titles to receive the James Laughlin Award include Song by Brigit Pegeen Kelly (1994) and The City in Which I Love You by Li-Young Lee (1990). Officially released on September 10, newly printed copies of The Book of Goodbyes are now available at the BOA Bookstore. BOA Editions proudly joins with the Academy of American Poets to celebrate Jillian Weise’s outstanding collection The Book of Goodbyes!