Poem-a-Day - "Summer is lying asleep to-day"

2023 American Poets Prizes

Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the 2023 American Poets Prizes. These honors are among the most prestigious poetry prizes in the United States, including the $100,000 Wallace Stevens Award for proven mastery in the art form. Read about this year’s winners here, and enjoy this selection of poems and titles by the winners: 

“This Morning, This First Poem” by Afaa Michael Weaver 
“In the Eighties We Did the Wop” by Major Jackson
“Swim” by Edgar Morales
“Primordial Mirror” by Ama Codjoe
“jersey fems at the philly zoo” by Cyrée Jarelle Johnson
Ojo en Celo / Eye in Heat by Margarita Pintado Burgos, translated by Alejandra Quintana Arocho
Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated by Stephanie McCarter 
Letters of Black Fire by Giorgiomaria Cornelio, translated by Moira Egan

“Poetry and popular culture play similar roles. One important role that I think they both share is to provide a snapshot of the world and the society from which they come. So when I consider how they help one another, I believe they serve as points of connection and community.”

Read our latest enjambments interview with Taylor Byas for I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times, published this month by Soft Skull Press. Read a selection of poems from the collection on Poets.org: 

“Conversion: On Cincinnati’s Converted Churches, God, and Lucifer”
“South Side (V)”
“Tender-Headed”

Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize

We are accepting submissions for the 2024 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize, which is given to honor exceptional poems that help readers recognize the gravity of the vulnerable state of our environment. Established in 2019 with generous support from Treehouse Investments, the prize will honor three poets. First place will receive $1,000; second place, $750; and third place, $500. Submissions are accepted from September 15, 2023, through November 15, 2023. The judges are Elizabeth Bradfield and climate scientist Kate Marvel, PhD.

Join us on Tuesday, September 26, at 7 p.m. ET for World in Verse, a virtual multilingual reading and celebration of international poetry in translation. Featuring Mesándel Virtusio Arguelles, Kristine Ong Muslim, Iryna Shuvalova, Uilleam Blacker, Xavier Valcárcel, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, and more, introduced by Academy Chancellor Emeritus Arthur Sze, winner of the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry. 

World in Verse is a special initiative between Words Without Borders and the Academy of American Poets for National Translation Month. 

“I am grateful for the affirmation and honored by the support and encouragement from the Academy of American Poets in helping us continue to build upon the empowering histories and brilliant communities of poetry and art in San Diego.”

—Jason Magabo Perez, 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, San Diego

Read more about Perez and his fellowship project here. 

Sponsored Content

Inaugural poet and #1 New York Times bestselling author Amanda Gorman celebrates the launch of her latest picture book, Something, Someday, with acclaimed artist and Caldecott Honor-winner Christian Robinson for a multimedia evening of poetry in performance, art, and conversation. Moderated by bestselling author Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together). Tuesday, September 26, at 5 p.m. ET. In person at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St., New York, New York 10025) and available via live stream. Find more information here. 

#PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week

The Emily Dickinson Museum’s annual Tell It Slant Poetry Festival features free workshops, panels, and readings by talented poets from around the world. The festival, happening September 19–25, will be hybrid with both online and in-person events at The Emily Dickinson Museum (280 Main St., Amherst, Massachusetts 01002). Buy tickets here. (Sponsored)