June 9, 2020 (New York, NY)— The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $75,000 Art Works grant in the literature category from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), one of 1,015 grants nationwide in this category. In total, NEA Chairman Mary Ann Carter has approved more than $84 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2020. The grant will provide critical support to Poets.org, Poem-a-Day, National Poetry Month, and the other free programs and publications the organization produces for poets, readers, and educators in all 50 states.
“The Academy of American Poets has worked with and benefited from the NEA since this important agency began in 1965. We’re proud to have the NEA’s continued and generous support and stamp of approval as we make poetry available to an increasing audience. We’re grateful to Amy Stolls, Director of Literature at the NEA, for her guidance and leadership," said Jennifer Benka, executive director of the Academy of American Poets.
Last year, Poets.org, Poem-a-Day, and National Poetry Month, which the Academy of American Poets originated in 1996 and continues to organize, reached more than tens of millions of readers, made possible by contributions from individuals and public support.
For more information on this National Endowment for the Arts grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
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 produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; 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; administers the American Poets Prizes; 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 our culture. Through its prize program, the organization annually awards more funds to individual poets than any other organization, giving a total of $1,250,000 to more than 200 poets at various stages of their careers. This year, in response to the global health crisis, the Academy launched the #ShelterInPoems initiative, inviting members of the public to select poems of comfort and courage from its online collection to share with others on social media. The initiative culminated in the organization’s first-ever virtual reading, which was watched more than 25,000 times by viewers in more than 40 countries around the world. The Academy is also one of seven national organizations that comprise Artist Relief, a multidisciplinary coalition of arts grantmakers and a consortium of foundations working to provide resources and funding to the country’s individual poets, writers, and artists who are impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
