As if all the fame, fast cars and free gin in poetry weren’t enough, just look at all of these fabulous prizes!

— City Lights icon Lawrence Ferlinghetti was honored with the New England Poetry Club‘s annual Golden Rose on Monday. The Golden Rose is considered a crowning achievement given to only the most accomplished and enduring poets and has been in existence since 1920. The New England Poetry Club — founded by such poetry heavyweights as Amy Lowell, Robert Frost and Conrad Aiken — is the sponsor of the oldest poetry reading series in the U.S.

— Of course the Pulitzer Prizes were announced yesterday, with Virginia native Claudia Emerson taking the prize for poetry. For some, it’s an honor to even know you’d been on the list.

— The Griffin Prize shortlist was revealed on April 5. With a $50,000 (Can) each prize to a Canadian winner and international winner to be announced on June 1, the prize is one of the more lucrative awarded to best books of poetry published in English in the previous year.

— Also on Monday … John DuVal received the $5,000 Raiziss/de Palchi Prize for the translation of modern Italian poetry. He was recognized for his translation of Tales of Trilussa by Carlo Alberto Salustri.

— These are all nice honors, but the big money winner of the week went to Richard Wilbur, who was awarded The 2006 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (also known as The Poetry Jackpot Hoedown). The poet and translator has racked up a very respectable history of awards and honors, but the $100,00 attached to the Lilly Prize is one of the largest for poets. Wilbur was unavailable for comment, but I suspect his reaction went something like this: “I’m going to DisneyLand!”