Poet Merwin wins Bobbitt prize

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Renowned U.S. poet W.S. Merwin has won the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry.

Merwin is slated to pick up the prize and read selections of his work Oct. 31 in Washington.

Merwin earned the biennial $10,000 prize for his book "Present Company," published in 2005 by Copper Canyon.

The 2006 Bobbitt Prize is awarded for the most distinguished book of poetry written by a U.S. author and published during 2004 and 2005.

The prize is donated by the family of the late Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt of Austin, Texas, in her memory, and awarded at the Library of Congress.

Bobbitt was President Lyndon B. Johnson’s sister.