Perkins Professor Harold Recinos Nominated for Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for Third Time

DALLAS (SMU) – Harold Recinos, professor of Church and Society at Perkins School of Theology at SMU, has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for his newest collection, On the Sight of Angels (Wipf and Stock, 2025). This marks the third time Recinos’ work has been nominated and accepted for consideration for the nation’s top literary honor.

Recinos also received nominations for his two previous collections, The Looking Glass: Far and Near (2023) and The Place Across the River (2024). He has written 22 poetry collections, with another, The Bags We Carry, forthcoming in 2026.

Recinos describes his poetry “as graffiti on public culture, lines about the mixed feelings of learned truth that originate from the permanent Spanglish knot in my throat.” On the Sight of Angels continues his signature blend of prophetic witness and lyrical imagination, exploring life in urban margins and faith amid injustice.

“At Perkins, we believe that theology is not confined to the classroom or textbooks but finds expression in art, justice, and the human imagination. Dr. Hal Recinos’ poetry embodies that conviction with uncommon brilliance. His Pulitzer nomination honors a voice that gives witness to hope, struggle, and creative engagement with the world—and it reminds us how the Perkins community hopes to speak meaningfully into the heart of culture and faith.”
Through poetry, Recinos said, “I aim to say something about the exclusion that is familiar to people who have their backs pressed against the wall by cultures of cruelty and divisive politics. Poetry has been with me longer than I can remember, and it has been a companion to address with imaginative language the pulse of everyday life in disregarded places.”

The new collection has earned high praise from fellow poets and critics.

“From its early invitation to ‘step into this / place where God is never / indifferent to the movement / of life’ through its later invitation to ‘look / for the corners visited by / radiant goodness,’ On the Sight of Angels proves that Harold Recinos is alert to the messengers of God, and also ‘unafraid to gather whatever / glitters in a world in need of / repair,’” wrote H. L. Hix, professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Creative Writing Program at the University of Wyoming.

Philip Schultz, founder of The Writers Studio and Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry himself, added: “Of the many important things these deeply felt poems accomplish—perhaps the most essential—is the view of white America they offer: the other side of America that’s seldom seen with such bravado and honesty in American poetry; an immigrant black and brown America ripped open by white rage and indifference. Recinos’ view of the role Christianity plays in all of this is equally profound and original. These are poems that needed to be written, truthful, often enraged, poems written by and for the soul. Amen.”

Recinos says he’s honored to be recognized once again by the Pulitzer committee, noting the historical significance of Latino representation in the prize’s history. To date, only one Latino poet has received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry: William Carlos Williams, who was honored posthumously in 1963.

In addition to his poetry, Recinos is a noted theologian and author of six works in constructive theology, each of which featured his original poems at the beginning of each chapter. Encouraged by readers who urged him to publish more poetry, he released his first collection, Voices on the Corner, in 2015.

“Subsequently, I have continued to pour myself into the craft guided by the appeal of a remark made by Ezra Pound, who said, ‘Poetry is news that stays news,’” Recinos said. “I hope that is true of my collections.”

Perkins School of Theology celebrates Harold Recinos for his continued recognition and his contributions to faith-informed art and scholarship. The recipient of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for poetry will be announced in May.

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Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of . Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Pastoral Music as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.