On April 27, 2011, the Academy of American Poets held its 9th annual benefit, Poetry & The Creative Mind, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. Noted actors, musicians, writers, and visual artists participated in this extraordinary evening celebrating the role of contemporary poetry in American culture. Poetry & the Creative Mind celebrates National Poetry Month, established by the Academy in 1996 and now the largest literary celebration in the world.

Our special guest readers were Alec Baldwin, Dan Barber, Adrien Brody, Michael Cunningham, Jesse Eisenberg, Caroline Kennedy, Liev Schreiber, Patti Smith, and Cassandra Wilson. Chip Kidd served as master of ceremonies. They read work by poets including Elizabeth Bishop, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Hass, Langston Hughes, Frank O'Hara, among others.