W&L’s Leah Naomi Green Recognized for Two National Poetry Prizes Green’s poetry earned the Thomas Merton Prize from the Center for Interfaith Relations and a spot on the Alpine Fellowship’s poetry prize shortlist.

By Brian Laubscher
October 2, 2026

Leah Naomi Green, writer-in-residence and visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Washington and Lee University, recently had two of her poems recognized for a pair of national poetry prizes.

Green’s poem “Human Grammar” was selected as the winner of the Poetry of the Sacred Writing Contest’s Thomas Merton Prize presented by the Center for Interfaith Relations. The annual contest encourages poets to tap into sacred language, consider the many varied aspects of spirituality and explore the deep meaning and beauty of a contemplative life.

Green’s poetry was also recognized by the Alpine Fellowship for its annual poetry prize. Her poem, “Through the Cornfields, My Fear Was Not Sad,” was placed on the shortlist for the award, which carries a cash prize.

Green has been published and anthologized frequently over the years. She is the author of the book “The More Extravagant Feast,” which was selected by Li-Young Lee for the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets and was hailed as one of the best books of 2020 by The Boston Globe. Green has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and was presented with a Treehouse Climate Action Poetry Prize as well as the Lucille Clifton Legacy Award. Her new book, “To Be Alive While You’re Alive,” is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions.

A visiting member of the W&L faculty since 2009, Green earned a Master of Fine Arts in English from the University of California, Irvine, and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Earlham College.

The Center for Interfaith Relations is a nonsectarian nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the diversity of faith traditions, expressing gratitude for our unity and strengthening the role of faith in society through common action. Guided by compassion for community, self and the Earth, the center fosters understanding among the faith traditions that enrich the region. Through its signature Festival of Faiths and year-round programming, it builds community partnerships and works toward a healthier, stronger society rooted in respect for the sacredness of life.

The Alpine Fellowship is a charitable foundation that supports, commissions and showcases artists, writers, academics and playwrights. Committed to discovering emerging talent and sharing new ideas in art, literature and philosophy, the foundation centers its work on an annual symposium that brings together artists, philosophers, writers and academics to exchange knowledge across a diverse range of creative and intellectual fields. Through its international prizes, the foundation offers grants, mentoring, performances and exhibitions for talented young artists and thinkers, and it partners with artistic and academic institutions to commission new works and advance the humanities and interdisciplinary study.

If you know a W&L faculty member who has done great, accolade-worthy things, tell us about them! Nominate them for an accolade.