The 2010 winner for poetry is Kevin McFadden, Hardscrabble, published by the University of Georgia Press. Our judges note:

On first reading, what’s in evidence in this collection is McFadden’s endlessly ingenious wordplay. This book is a riot act from beginning to end in its adventurous approach to poetry, always exciting, always generative. McFadden brings a variety of forms, constraints, and approaches to the poem itself as an object. It’s impressive, the range of register this rambling can accommodate, erudition rubbing shoulders with rude jokes, and references to the classics ricocheting off of mispronunciations. McFadden shows language to be a source of revelation. The oddity of language reveals the compelling developments of American history, the intricacies of family relationships, and theological ruminations. McFadden’s deep subject is the way we create ourselves by collaboration with chance; in choosing to take some kind of serious stand, we have to come to terms with or take responsibility for something arbitrary – or fortuitous – in our choice. The double-sense of the title perfectly suits the book’s relationships between American work and play.