The judges' citation, released Thursday, noted Joudah's “significant and evolving body of work, distinguished by his courage to speak in the face of the unspeakable, in poems of lyric concision and intensity.”
Joudah's books include “The Earth in the Attic” and “Tethered to the Stars," along with English-language translations of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. His other honors include winning the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, in 2007, and receiving a PEN USA Literary Award.
The Jackson prize was established in 2007, and has previously been given to Sonia Sanchez, Joy Harjo and Claudia Rankine among others.