"Thy world is weaving words in my / mind"

April 3, 2024

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. Celebrate with exciting programs for readers this month, including Poetry & the Creative Mind, and Poem in Your Pocket Day at the Guggenheim.

more at poets.org

Enjoy a selection of poems examining the act of writing:

“To the Sonnet” by Ameen Rihani
“Poetry is This Screaming Madwoman” by Giannina Braschi
“Poets! Towers of God!” by Rubén Darío
“To: All Poets From: Northeastern North Carolina” by Tyree Daye
“the poem is a dream telling you its time” by Marwa Helal
“Poetry” by Marianne Moore
“Gitanjali 65” by Rabindranath Tagore

first book award winner

Congratulations to Robin Walter, author of Little Mercy, selected by Victoria Chang as the recipient of the 2024 Academy of American Poets’ First Book Award.

“—Watch”
“—Something here about memory”
“July prayer to survive the summer”

more at poets.org

poet laureate fellows

“I wonder what worlds open up when we model a radical poetics of relation, when we reckon with our historical and literary entanglements and intimacies, when we develop a shared grammar of past, present, and future.”

Read an essay by 2023 Poet Laureate Fellow Jason Magabo Perez on poetry, kinship, community, and liberation.

read the essay

poem-a-day guest editor

“I was looking for [...] sonic richness, vivid imagery and metaphors, candor, attention to craft and detail, engagement with the myriad world, advocacy on the behalf of the oppressed, and compelling authenticity in voice and tone.”

Read an interview with Cyrus Cassells, our Poem-a-Day Guest Editor for April.

read the interview

In celebration of the Academy’s ninetieth anniversary and National Poetry Month, we share this archival photo of Sharon Olds, Yusef Komunyakaa and Toi Derricotte after a reading.

Sponsored Content

“To The South, With Love”

Listen to Nikky Finney, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, alongside 2020 Poet Laureate Fellow Beth Ann Fennelly and two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward on an episode of the podcast, Our New South. To learn more, visit ncpodcasts.com/ournewsouth.

literary seminars

Carl Phillips on Gwendolyn Brooks
Class starts on Tues, Apr 16
3 online sessions (2:30–3:45 p.m. ET)

Sign up for a one-of-a-kind seminar on Brooks’s evolution as a writer, mastery of English form, and stylistic virtuosity.

book your spot now

#PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week

An inspiring night of poetry with Booker Prize-winning author Michael Ondaatje and Knopf editor-in-chief Jordan Pavlin to celebrate the publication of A Year of Last Things. Thursday, April 4, 6 p.m. ET. Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway, New York, New York.

more at poets.org

upcoming deadlines

The 2024 James Laughlin Award recognizes a poet’s second book forthcoming in 2025. Publishers can learn more here and apply by May 15.
The 2024 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in 2023. Publishers can learn more here and apply by May 15.
The 2024 Poetry Fund is open through April 15. Poetry organizations and presses can learn more and apply here.

2024 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships

The Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships are $50,000 awards given to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that engage their fellow residents, including youth, with poetry, helping to address issues important to their communities. We are accepting applications for the 2024 fellowships until April 8, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

more at poets.org

jobs for poets

Miami Book Fair in Florida is seeking a full-time marketing and outreach events manager.
O, Miami in Florida is seeking an executive director.
City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco is seeking a night manager. To apply, send a cover letter and resume to resumes@citylights.com.
HarperCollins Publishers in New York, New York, is seeking a full-time senior editor for its Ecco imprint.

last week’s poem-a-day

Revisit last week’s Poem-a-Day selections with us on Poets.org:

March 25: “Not to Be Confused with ‘Poem’” by Geffrey Davis
March 26: “Somehow” by Dorothy Chan
March 27: “Just as the Darkness Got Very Dark / Another Data Point” by Erika Meitner
March 28: “Red-Shouldered Hawk” by Ciona Rouse