On April 1, 2009, the Academy of American Poets held its 7th annual benefit, Poetry & The Creative Mind, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. Some of America's leading artists, scholars, and public figures participated in this extraordinary evening celebrating the role of contemporary poetry in American culture. Poetry & The Creative Mind kicks off National Poetry Month, established by the Academy in 1996 and now the largest literary celebration in the world.
Our special guest readers were Joan Baez, Roy Blount, Jr., Jorie Graham, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Chip Kidd, Wynton Marsalis, Steve Reich, Mark Strand, and Harold Varmus. Each read poems by some of America's best-loved poets, including Auden, Frost,Bishop, and Dickinson.