Big congratulations to the winner of the 2026 Stern Prize 🏆

Lynn Melnick is the author of three poetry collections, including, most recently Refusenik, winner of the Julie Suk award, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. She is also the author of the memoir, I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton, most recently out in paperback with Spiegel & Grau. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, New Republic, and A Public Space. She teaches at Princeton University and Columbia University, and lives in Brooklyn with her family.