The Beyond Baroque

Annual awards Dinner

Check back for detail on the 2020 Annual Awards Dinner.

The Beyond Baroque Annual Awards Dinner began in 2011 under the direction of the standing board president, Sherman Pearl, as a way to honor poets in the Los Angeles poetry community who have shined a light on the craft of poetry, both through their writing and through their efforts to draw attention to poetry as an art form. The board voted to have two distinct awards honoring two paths of service.

The George Drury Smith Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry, named for the founder of Beyond Baroque, honors an outstanding achievement in poetry by a poet whose work has drawn attention to the art of poetry beyond the borders of Los Angeles.

The Distinguished Service Award was created to honor a local poet who has made long-term contributions to the poetry community in Los Angeles and is an outstanding poet in his own right. 

The awards are handed out at the Annual Awards Dinner each year. In 2018, at a special gala to celebrate Beyond Baroque's 50th anniversary Will Alexander received a special lifetime achievement award and Viggo Mortensen was recognized for his service to Beyond Baroque.

GEORGE DRURY SMITH AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN POETRY RECIPIENTS

2011 David St. John
2012 Wanda Coleman
2013 Eloise Klein Healy
2014 William Mohr
2015 Suzanne Lummis
2016 Holly Prado
2017 Paul Vangelisti
2018 Kamau Daáood
2019 Harryette Mullen

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENTS

2011 S.A. Griffin
2012 Amélie Frank
2013 Mike Sonksen
2014 Rick Lupert
2015 Elena Karina Byrne
2016 Luis Rodriguez
2017 Wayne Lindberg and Hilda Weiss
2018 Jack Grapes
2019 Diane Luby Lane

ALEXANDRA GARRETT AWARD FOR SERVICE TO BEYOND BAROQUE

2017 Jim Fleck
2018 Viggo Mortensen
2019 Johanna Drucker

50TH ANNIVERSARY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

2018 Will Alexander