Westminster College English Professor Receives Poetry Award

Dr. David G. Swerdlow, associate professor of English at Westminster College, recently received the Rose Lefcowitz Prize for Poetry for his poem, "Living on Angel Ridge," which recognizes the best poem published in Poet Lore during 1999.

"I composed the first draft of the poem over a decade ago," said Swerdlow. "After that, it went through dozens of revisions. Like many poems, "Living on Angel Ridge" mediates on some of the primary themes of our lives: solitude, pain, and beauty."

Richard McCann, a noted poet and Director of American University's creative writing program, judged the contest for Poet Lore, which is our nation's oldest journal devoted exclusively to poetry.

"Living on Angel Ridge" is part of a manuscript titled Small Holes in the Universe, which is under consideration by several publishers.

Swerdlow, who has been with Westminster College since 1990, specializes in poetry, and comparative and contemporary literature. He was a Fulbright professor of American Literature in Peru, and a Fellow for the National Endowment of the Humanities. Swerdlow earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, and his master's and Ph.D. from Ohio State University.