Every National Poetry Month we present Dear Poet, a multimedia education project that invites young people in grades five through twelve to write letters in response to poems written and read by award-winning poets, including poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors and who have received our Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships.
The submission period for our 2020 Dear Poet project is currently closed.
Lesson plan to use Dear Poet in the classroom
Read a brief essay about Dear Poet.
Read about one high school's participation in the project.
Dear Poet Letters 2020
We’re pleased to share that in 2020, we received over 3,035 letters. These students hail from rural, suburban, and urban areas in thirty-eight states, U.S. territories, and countries.
We shared these letters with our Chancellors, who replied to many of them individually. Several Chancellors also wrote a letter addressed to the hundreds of students who wrote in.
Read letters to Alberto Ríos and his responses.
Read letters to Marie Howe and her responses.
Read letters to Forrest Gander and his responses.
Read letters to Brenda Hillman and her responses.
Read letters to Kwame Dawes and his responses.
Read letters to Linda Gregerson and her responses.
Read letters to Grace Cavalieri and her responses.
Read letters to Adrian Matejka and his responses.
Read letters to Joy Harjo and her responses.
Read letters to Molly Fisk and her responses.
Read letters to Jaki Shelton Green and her responses.
Read letters to Marilyn Chin and her responses.
Read letters to Alicia Ostriker and her responses.
Read letters to Raquel Salas Rivera and his responses.
Read letters to Claudia Castro Luna and her responses.
Read letters to Khaled Mattawa and his responses.
Read letters to Paisley Rekdal and her responses.
Read letters to Ed Madden and his responses.
Read letters to Kim Shuck and her responses.
Read letters to Jeanetta Calhoun Mish and her responses.
Read letters to Fred L. Joiner and his responses.
Read letters to Natasha Trethewey and her responses.
