Lucille Clifton, the poet and children’s-book author, is the winner of the 2007 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, which brings not only considerable prestige but also a $100,000 stipend.

Lucille Clifton

Ms. Clifton, a distinguished professor of the humanities at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, has published a dozen books of poetry and more than 20 books for children. At gatherings of poets Ms. Clifton is beloved for her sense of humor, her down-to-earth demeanor, her storytelling, and her compelling readings. Among her best-loved poems is “Homage to My Hips,” which begins:

these hips are big hips they need space to move around in. they don’t fit into little petty places. these hips are free hips. they don’t like to be held back.

The Ruth Lilly Prize honors a living poet’s lifetime accomplishments, and it has been given annually since 1986 by the Poetry Foundation, which publishes Poetry magazine. Previous winners include Adrienne Rich, Philip Levine, Donald Hall, and W.S. Merwin. —Lawrence Biemiller