English professor receives prestigious national poetry award

Leslie Harrison, professor of English at Towson University, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Emily Clark Balch Prize for Poetry, awarded annually by the Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR) for the best poetry published in the magazine during the year.

Widely regarded as one of the nation's premier literary journals, VQR selected Harrison's work for this distinguished honor, recognizing the exceptional quality and impact of her poetry. The award highlights a collection of poems published in the magazine's summer 2025 issue.

Harrison's award-winning poems include:

• "I wish to talk about the soul without talking about the soul"
• "I wonder sometimes if the dead dream and if so of what"
• "Letter to an old love"
• "Everything born and made is born and made"

The recognition adds to Harrison's distinguished record as a poet and scholar and brings national attention to Towson University's Department of English. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award (2017), an NEA fellowship in literature (2011) and the Bakeless Prize (2009).

Review the full announcement of the award by clicking here.