New York, NY (March 24, 2021)— On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets will present its Leadership Award to Jonathan Galassi, former Academy Board Chairman and current President of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, at the first-ever virtual Poetry & the Creative Mind gala on April 29, 2021.
Galassi will be recognized for publishing many influential American and international poets, including Louise Glück, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature; helping to expand the readership of poetry, which has seen unprecedented growth in recent years; and being instrumental in launching National Poetry Month, now the largest literary celebration in the world, in 1996.
The Academy of American Poets Leadership Awards were inaugurated in 2018 to honor individuals, organizations, and publishers who have made significant contributions to the art of poetry.
“We are thrilled to honor Jonathan Galassi for his many years of service to the poetry community both as past Chairman of the Academy of American Poets and as publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Jonathan has brilliantly published scores of poets and translated some as well as had his own poems published. His leadership helped us to launch National Poetry Month 25 years ago. It is still going strong as is his lasting impact on the art form we love,” said Michael Jacobs, Board Chairman of the Academy of American Poets.
“It’s a great joy and honor to be able to underline and reaffirm FSG’s long and fruitful collaboration with the Academy of American Poets. Poetry has always been central to who we are and what we do as publishers, and the Academy has been one of our most important partners in bringing this greatest and most capacious of art forms to readers everywhere. National Poetry Month was an idea conceived in an FSG marketing meeting, but it was the Academy that made it a reality. It’s been thrilling to see how poetry has become ever more central to the literary conversation in America and how vital a role the Academy has played in this,” said Galassi.
The virtual Poetry & the Creative Mind gala will include a performance of favorite poems by leading and legendary actors, dancers, artists, musicians, and public figures, including Honorary Event Co-chair Meryl Streep. For more information about the event, and to register for free, visit: https://poets.org/academy-american-poets/programs/poetry-creative-mind
Funds raised at Poetry & the Creative Mind will provide critical support for the Academy of American Poets' Education Program, which reaches 100,000 students each year and provides free weekly resources to more than 30,000 K-12 educators nationwide.
About the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is the nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry with supporters in all fifty states. Founded in 1934, the organization annually awards more funds to individual poets than any other organization through its prize program, giving a total of $1,250,000 to more than 200 poets at various stages of their careers. The Academy also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; originated and organizes National Poetry Month; publishes the popular Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides award-winning resources to K–12 educators, including the Teach This Poem series; hosts an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition working together to promote the value poets bring to the country’s culture.