The American Academy of Poets has honored Minnesota poet Matt Rasmussen with the 2012 Walt Whitman Award, which goes to a poet who has not yet published a book.
The award includes a $5,000 cash prize, a one-month residency at the Vermont Studio Center, and publication. Rasmussen's book, "Black Aperture," will be published next spring by Louisana State University Press. He will be honored at an awards ceremony in October during the annual Poets Forum.
Rasmussen was born in International Falls and lives in Robbinsdale. He teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
