Poem-a-Day - Poems by Ameen Rihani and more

“These grants remain vital because the impact of the emergency of COVID-19 remains very present in our lives,” said Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation.

The Literary Arts Emergency Fund, launched and administered by the Academy of American Poets, the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP), and the National Book Foundation in 2020, will distribute $4,300,000 in funding to 313 nonprofit literary arts organizations and publishers across the U.S. that have experienced continued financial losses due to COVID-19. 

Read more about the literary arts organizations and publishers that will receive funding. The Literary Arts Emergency Fund was made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. 

“Writing poetry for others, I’ve seen the power of the art form to help people with connection, romance, grieving, reconciliation, and letting go. Words are a way to actualize and externalize our interior lives. They are how we invite others into our interiority.”

—Read this interview with 2021 Poet Laureate Fellow, Brian Sonia-Wallace, on his work in West Hollywood, California. 

Next week, don’t miss our signature National Poetry Month virtual reading, Poetry & the Creative Mind, with masters of ceremony Richard Blanco and Terrance Hayes, and featuring readings of favorite poems from Rosanne Cash, Willem Dafoe, Claire Danes, 2022 Leadership Award recipient Joy Harjo, Sharon Van Etten, and more luminaries from across the arts and culture.

This signature annual gala celebrating poetry’s important place in our lives raises critical funds to support the Academy of American Poets Education Program. Join us for our live broadcast Thursday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. EDT, free and open to the public. Learn more at Poets.org.
 

 

Check out our National Poetry Month #PoetryNearYou Pick of the Week: Poetic Rhythms of Joyful Resistance: A Celebration! A poetry and music open mic featuring a bilingual poetry performance by 2021–2022 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow Magdalena Gómez and musician, producer, artist, and educator, Cornell W. Coley. Free and open to the public. Saturday, April 23, at 2 p.m. EDT at Art for the Soul Gallery in Springfield, Massachusetts. Learn more.
 

Thank you to the following 2022 #NationalPoetryMonth sponsors & partners who help make possible the largest literary celebration in the world: National Endowment for the Arts, National Writing Project, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Nightboat Books, Northwestern University Press, O, Miami, Oatly, Penguin Books, Penguin Random House, Inc., Persea Books, Ploughshares, Poetry Foundation, Poets & Writers, & Power Poetry.