New York, NY (June 7, 2021)— In alliance with the Amazon Literary Partnership (ALP), the Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of the Poetry Fund grants, which are provided annually to poetry organizations and presses that are selected from among a pool of applicants. The ALP originally launched the Poetry Fund with the Academy in 2019 to further its role as a supporter of poetry organizations nationwide and to build the readership of poetry.
The Academy, in cooperation with the ALP, convened a grantmaking panel this year that included Claudia Castro Luna, Kamilah Aisha Moon, and Brenda Shaughnessy. Final 2021 award decisions were made up by the ALP in partnership with the Academy.
The 2021 Poetry Fund grant recipients are:
Alice James Books
Autumn House Press
BOA Editions
Cave Canem
Copper Canyon Press
Furious Flower Poetry Center
The National Poetry Series
Nightboat Books
Nuyorican Poets Cafe
O, Miami
Poetry Northwest
Pongo Poetry Project
Poetry Society of America
University of Arizona Poetry Center/CantoMundo
Undocupoets
Urban Word NYC/National Youth Poet Laureate
White Pine Press
Woodland Pattern Book Center
Zephyr Press
Zoeglossia
“We’re extremely grateful to work with the Amazon Literary Partnership to support poetry organizations and publishers whose work will be critical to our processing all we've been through in the pandemic and also in envisioning new ways forward,” said Jennifer Benka, President and Executive Director, Academy of American Poets. “We appreciate the Amazon Literary Partnership program's belief that the work of poets and writers from diverse communities is central to that."
“At Amazon, we believe in the power of the written word and the impact writers have on our culture, society, and lives. We are proud to support these vital organizations that champion writers and their work,” said Alexandra Woodworth, Manager of the Amazon Literary Partnership. “The list of 2021 Amazon Literary Partnership grant recipients represent a wide range of organizations working tirelessly to ensure that the literary community, and diverse and underrepresented voices, can thrive for generations to come.”
Guided by the mission of having a lasting impact on the literary community, the Amazon Literary Partnership annual grants have supported more than 150 organizations with $14 million in grant funding since 2009, assisting tens of thousands of writers to tell their stories, amplify their messages, and find their audience. Grant recipients include writing mentorship programs, nonprofit writing centers, residencies, fellowships, after-school classes, literary magazines, internationally acclaimed publishers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and national organizations supporting storytelling and free speech.
About the Academy of American Poets
Founded in 1934, the Academy of American Poets is the nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry with supporters in all fifty states. The Academy annually awards more funds to individual poets than any other organization through its prize program, giving a total of $1.25 million 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.