The City University of New York is many things. It is vast. It is accessible to students without a lot of money. It is exceptionally diverse. It is not, however, particularly fancy, the kind of place that oozes exclusivity or prestige.

And yet CUNY is home to a surprising number of extremely accomplished, recognized -- some might even say fancy -- poets.

This year, the Pulitzer Prize for poetry went to ''Olio,'' a book by Tyehimba Jess, an associate professor of English at the College of Staten Island.

Mr. Jess joins an extensive list at CUNY. Ben Lerner, a MacArthur Fellow, teaches at Brooklyn College. Kimiko Hahn, winner of the prestigious PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, teaches in the Queens College M.F.A. program. Grace Schulman is at Baruch College, Patricia Smith is at the College of Staten Island, Meena Alexander and Tom Sleigh are at Hunter College. Billy Collins, the former poet laureate of the United States, retired last year after teaching at Lehman College for almost 50 years.

(Read a selection of poetry by prominent CUNY faculty members.)

As it happens, poets at CUNY have won the Pulitzer in two out of the past three years -- before Mr. Jess's award, Gregory Pardlo, a CUNY graduate student at the time, took the prize in 2015. And, in a related category, Sarah DeLappe, a Brooklyn College M.F.A. student, was a finalist this year in the drama category for a play about a...