New York, NY (December 1, 2022)—The Academy of American Poets will begin accepting applications for its 2023 Poet Laureate Fellowships on December 5, 2022. The $50,000 fellowships will honor poets laureate of states, cities, counties, U.S. territories, or Tribal nations who have made positive contributions to their communities in these roles and beyond, and help them undertake impactful and innovative projects that will address important issues through poetry. The fellowship program, made possible by a generous gift from the Mellon Foundation, is now in its fifth year.

The panelists who will recommend the recipients of the 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships include Director of Letras Latinas at Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies, Francisco Aragón; National Student Poets Founder Olivia Morgan; former U.S. Poet Laureate and Academy Chancellor Tracy K. Smith; and others to be named. The panel will be co-chaired by former board chair of the Academy of American Poets Eunice “Nicie” Panetta. Final award decisions will be approved and finalized by members of the Academy of American Poets Board of Directors.

Read more about the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships.

Read the eligibility requirements and guidelines for the 2023 Poet Laureate Fellowships

Applications from qualified poets laureate will be accepted online from December 5, 2023 until February 17, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To submit an application, please visit: https://poets.submittable.com/submit/243731/2023-academy-of-american-poets-laureate-fellowships. (NOTE: this page will be live on December 5.) 

Read more about the 2022 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellows and 2021 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellows and their civic projects.

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 and beyond. The organization annually awards $1.3+ million to more than two hundred poets at various stages of their careers through its prize and fellowship programs. The organization also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; established and organizes National Poetry Month each April; publishes the popular Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides free resources to K–12 educators, including the award-winning weekly Teach This Poem series; hosts an annual series of poetry readings, and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition that promotes the value poets bring to our culture.

About the Mellon Foundation

The Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through its grants, the Foundation seeks to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.