Ruth Stone is the author of thirteen books of poetry. She received many honors during her lifetime, including the 2002 National Book Award for Poetry, the 2002 Wallace Stevens Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She was poet laureate of Vermont from 2007 until her death in November of 2011. Her posthumous collection The Essential Ruth Stone, edited by Bianca Stone, was published in September 2020 by Copper Canyon Press.