D.A Powell is one of the stars of Minneapolis' notable Graywolf Press. The press has published three volumes of his poetry, including, "Chronic," and "Cocktails," as well as his most recent collection.

Last night, that most recent collection, "Useless Landscape, or, A Guide for Boys," won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. Powell had been a finalist for the NBCC award once before, for "Cocktails." He's also been a Guggenheim Fellow and has won a California Book Award, and has lectured at Harvard University.

In 2010, Powell won the Kingsley Tufts Award, one of poetry's most prestigious honors (and most lucrative--the prize is $100,000).

The Strib review of "Useless Landscape" is here.

Other winners last night include Andrew Solomon for "Far From the Tree," Ben Fountain for "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk," Robert Caro's "The Passage of Power," Leanne Shapton's "Swimming Studies," and Marina Warner's "Stranger Magic."