The annual award pays tribute to a distinguished Kansas author whose lifetime contributions have used the written word to enhance the proud literary legacy of the state.

This award is sponsored by Lucas, Kan.-based Ad Astra Publishing and will be presented during the noon luncheon of the annual conference of Kansas Association of State Librarians on Thursday, Oct. 13, in Salina.

Goldbarth, an internationally acclaimed poet, has been a part of WSU’s creative writing faculty since 1987.

He has published more than 25 collections of poetry, has been a Guggenheim fellow and won the National Book Critics Circle award in 1991 and 2001, the only poet to ever receive the honor twice.

Goldbarth also won the Mark Twain Award for Humorous Poetry, awarded by the Poetry Foundation, in 2008.