Proof of Life, winner of the 2026 Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize for a poet 70 or older, is a poetry collection true to its title. Love, trauma, family, climate change, self-discovery and more ignite Kathy O' Fallon's poems.

"For me, the phrase, 'proof of life,'" says the poet, "evokes the danger of life being taken away, the risks we take to prove we are alive, and the hope of an afterlife. Poetry is a voice, a lyrical representation of life, a lifeline in my case, from the most personal to the most universal. A calm amidst the storm."

Renowned poet and Morgenthau contest judge Alicia Ostriker calls the book, "Philosophical, conversational, sharply observant. Proof of Life surges through a lifetime of energy, experience, and wisdom—everywhere a pleasure to read."

Kathy O'Fallon describes herself as part observer, part detective. She is a psychologist who never expected to become one, but a prior career in a law office/library left her lonely for human connection. Meanwhile, she began writing fiction. Grad school, work, divorce and two toddlers kept her busy with real life too. A writer's conference lured her into poetry after her mother's death, and she put the prose behind. She has published several poetry chapbooks, including At Higher Elevations, Underbelly, When the Moon Spills Her Milk and Variations on a Theme of Love. Proof of Life is her first full-length collection of poetry. O'Fallon is a pen name which she finally legalized after trying several others, to protect the not-so-innocent.

"In Proof of Life, in a poem called 'What's at Stake,' Kathy O'Fallon remarks, 'Don't we live on the same playground?' It's true. I savor the phrasing of 'Land ahead, warns the lighthouse:/solid ground and graveyard,' a father depicted by 'the slingshot of his tempers,' a remembered childhood scene containing 'the pond and swans that look like churches,/frogs like gods.' Then comes the woman's voice: 'Everything's the tango of love/hate if you live long enough.' At home there are piquant family portraits, love for music, dogs, horses, where 'the nicker of a horse in the next field calls my name,' an unforgettable small granddaughter describing her 'superpowers,' and the question, 'How long till the well stops giving?' Philosophical, conversational, sharply observant, Proof of Life surges through a lifetime of energy, experience, and wisdom-everywhere a pleasure to read." — Alicia Ostriker, 2026 Morgenthau Judge, poet, critic, activist and National Book Award two-time finalist

"Kathy O'Fallon's Proof of Life is a love letter to a world that bursts with her magnificent attention, deep awe, and humble tenderness. But O'Fallon is also brave—willing to write about the hurt and danger of being alive and imperfectly loved. As if that wasn't enough, her sonic attunement to language is breathtaking. In 'Plum,' she writes, 'Not since Neruda have I tasted fruit/this juicy, sweet and spunky as a kiss/on a cliff above the surf at St. Tropez./ Mouth sucking magenta, 1812 Overture/from the waves, its finale exploding, down my lined and weathered chin,/begging to be licked . . .' This collection is that kind of fruit: juicy, deep, begging to be carefully savored." — Julia B. Levine, Author of Small Disasters Seen in Sunlight, Northern California Book Award Winner

"After reading Kathy O'Fallon's Proof of Life, I wanted to read it all over again for every delicious word and tongue's turn of phrase. She 'puddles' through the rain, 'breeze anoints the sky's thurible.' O'Fallon attends keen-eyed to all that grows in nature, every bloom and ravage, every seed spilled, the wren nesting, each child and grandchild born, all proof that when everything seems to be shrinking, life is transforming. 'I can't write fast enough' she says. 'I see now my death could be boisterous.' Like a lighthouse she has blinked on and off to save what can be saved and warn others away. A dynamic realist and romantic, her book turns a long, ordinary life into an extraordinary adventure not to be missed." — Perie Longo, Santa Barbara, CA Poet Laureate Emerita

"In poems that celebrate the innocence of the newly born, the sensuality of the physical world, and the sometimes-heartbreaking awareness that 'all rescue's temporary,' award-winning poet Kathy O'Fallon reflects on the struggles and joys that accompany a full life. Her awareness of the transitory quality of things runs throughout her book, from the moment of her awakening from girlhood in her remarkable song of the blues 'That's the Sound of the Men' to the penultimate poem 'Ballad for What's at Stake.'

Yet O'Fallon's poetry keeps returning to a sense of gratitude for the beauty of what is. Of a young man swimming laps in 'Olympiad in Training,' she writes, 'I can hardly keep my hands to myself— / god, beauty breaks me quicker than love.' O'Fallon's poetry is a wonderful example of the skilled poet at work. In her naming of things, her ability to provide new ways of seeing, her movement from one poetic form to another—she demonstrates the truth that 'Everything's the tango of love/hate, if you live long enough.'" — Steve McDonald, Author of Credo and House of Mirrors