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Academy of American Poets Marks Thirty Years of National Poetry Month with 2026 Poster Featuring Arthur Sze

New York, NY (February 19, 2026)—Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets today announced the official 2026 National Poetry Month poster. The poster features Arthur Sze, Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets and the twenty-fifth United States Poet Laureate, 2025–26.

With original artwork by Alfredo Richner, the 2026 poster includes the lines “even if the darkness precedes and follows / us, we have a chance, briefly, to shine” from Arthur Sze’s poem “The Chance,” published in The Redshifting Web: New & Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1998). 

The first National Poetry Month poster, issued in 1996, featured a photograph by Arthur Tress and was designed by Michael Ian Kaye, establishing the poster as a central public expression of the celebration from its inception. Produced by the Academy of American Poets with the support of leading literary publishers, the inaugural poster set a precedent for bringing poetry into public spaces through bold visual language—a tradition that continues thirty years later.

“For three decades, National Poetry Month has shown us how poetry can be integral to our everyday lives,” said Robert Casper, President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. “Our poster remains one of the most visible ways in which poetry reaches people where they are—primarily in libraries and schools.”

Since its founding, National Poetry Month posters have featured lines by numerous notable poets, including Lucille Clifton, Emily Dickinson, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, Naomi Shihab Nye, Tracy K. Smith, and Walt Whitman, alongside artwork by leading designers and artists including Marian Bantjes, Roz Chast, Milton Glaser, Chip Kidd, and Christoph Niemann. The 2026 poster continues this lineage by returning to a focused presentation of a single poem excerpt as an entry point into the celebration.

Free copies of the 2026 National Poetry Month poster will be available to educators, librarians, booksellers, and poetry lovers nationwide in advance of National Poetry Month. Requests for mailed copies of the poster can be made at poets.org/national-poetry-month, where a special digital version of the poster with print-at-home instructions will also be available.

National Poetry Month is made possible in part through the generous support of the Academy of American Poets’ partners. Presenting Partners for National Poetry Month include the Poetry Foundation and Penguin Random House, as well as W. W. Norton & Company. The Academy also gratefully acknowledges its In-Kind Partners, including Billerud, Lindenmeyr, Midland, Sappi, the National Council of Teachers of English, American Booksellers Association, and American Library Association, whose support helps bring poetry to classrooms, libraries, and communities nationwide.

Throughout April, the Academy of American Poets will offer a wide range of free resources and opportunities so that anyone can take part in National Poetry Month, including:

  • Free lesson plans from the Academy’s Teach this Poem series, available at the Materials for Teachers page on Poets.org
  • The Dear Poet Project, encouraging students in grades five through twelve to write letters in response to poems by living poets
  • Poem-a-Day, curated throughout April by Chancellor Emerita Dorianne Laux, delivering a free daily poem to subscribers’ inboxes
  • Poetry & the Creative Mind, the Academy’s virtual gala, taking place on April 28, 2026
  • Poetry readings and events nationwide, listed on the Poetry Near You calendar
  • Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30, 2026, inviting readers to share a poem wherever they go
  • Social media celebrations using the official hashtag #NationalPoetryMonth, with free poetry resources and poems shared by the Academy (@POETSorg) on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and X

About National Poetry Month

Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month celebrates poets’ integral role in American culture and affirms that poetry matters. Over the years, it has grown into the largest literary celebration in the world, reaching tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary event organizers, publishers, families, and poets each year.

About the Academy of American Poets

Founded in 1934, the Academy of American Poets is a leading publisher of contemporary poetry in the United States. The organization annually awards more than $1.3 million to poets at various stages of their careers through its prize program. It also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; organizes National Poetry Month each April; publishes the Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides free resources to educators; hosts public poetry programs and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition that promotes the value poets bring to our culture. 

To learn more about the Academy of American Poets, including its staff, its Board of Directors, and its Board of Chancellors, visit https://poets.org/.

 

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More information about National Poetry Month 2026: https://poets.org/national-poetry-month

The poster can be viewed and downloaded directly at: https://bit.ly/NPMPoster2026