Updated: David Ferry won the National Book Award. A further story is in the works. 

A Columbia High School graduate is a National Book Award winner. David Ferry's “Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations,” was one of four finalists announced in the Poetry Category.

Ferry was born in Orange, New Jersey in 1924, and graduated from Columbia High School and Amherst College.  Ferry earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Ferry's work competes with  “Heavenly Bodies,” by Cynthia Huntington; “Fast Animal,” by Tim Seibles; “Night of the Republic,” by Alan Shapiro; and “Meme,” by Susan Wheeler.

Winners in each of four categories (Fiction, Non-fiction, Young Adult, and Poetry) will be announced Nov. 14 in New York. Each receives $10,000.

Patch will follow up with a profile of Ferry.