1995 Winner
Animals Housed In The Pleasure Of Flesh
by George Looney

"George Looney has studied his literary models reverently--Rilke, James Wright, Richard Hugo, Stanley Plumly, among others--and graduated with a voice all his own. His mind and heart are at home in nature, but he is more than a nature poet. In these beautifully orchestrated narratives Looney argues the underlying meanings of human tragedy and loss, the scares of living that instruct us to love and hence to redeem ourselves and others. Optimism, earned optimism not wishful thinking, is the book's greatest strength. A brilliant debut from a poet worth watching.'"

--Henry Carlile, 1995 Final Judge
       George Looney has been awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and his work has won numerous awards, including the Charles Angoff Award from The Literary Review. His work has appeared in many journals, including Denver Quarterly, The Southern Review, and The Kenyon Review. He teaches at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), where he is also editor of Mid-American Review. This is his first full-length collection of poems.