New York, NY (October 12, 2023)—The Academy of American Poets announces its Fall and Winter season of in-person, virtual, and hybrid readings and conversations.
Programs include Gather in Poems, a celebration of poetry and community; the annual Blaney Lecture on contemporary poetry and poetics; and a reading at the AWP Conference in Kansas City.
“As we move toward the end of one year and the beginning of another, we gather together in poetry to be inspired by our immense possibilities and imagine a better world,” said Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, Academy President and Executive Director.
“Hearing and seeing poets lifts our spirits, renews us, and reassures us that those living among us are still out there, still singing. We need to be in community, to celebrate and to mourn, to acknowledge our humanness; to feel rejuvenated, invigorated, and inspired. Art has been with us since the beginning, since the earliest of humans gathered together to tell and listen to stories. The Academy of American Poets is here to help us carry on this necessary tradition,” said Dorianne Laux, Academy Chancellor.
The Academy of American Poets' programs are made possible by the generous support of our members, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
SCHEDULE (all times are in Eastern Standard except where otherwise noted):
Thursday, October 26 at 8 p.m. (in person): A reading with the Academy of American Poets Chancellors, presented with First Year Writing at The New School’s Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. Featuring Marilyn Chin, Nikky Finney, Marie Howe, Ed Roberson, Patricia Smith, Tracy K. Smith, and Natasha Tretheway. The Chancellors are an honorary group of esteemed poets who serve as artistic advisors to the Academy and as ambassadors of poetry to the nation at large. Chancellors’ books will be available for sale and a signing will follow the reading. The New School’s Alvin Johnson / J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 W 12th St., New York, NY 10011. Seating is first come, first served. Register for free here.
Saturday, November 11 (in person): Grounded in Audre Lorde’s 1977 essay “Poetry Is Not a Luxury,” this day-long gathering curated by 2023 Guggenheim Poet-in-Residence Ama Codjoe, winner of the Academy’s Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for most outstanding book, brings contemporary artists and poets together for readings, panels, and performances that express Audre Lorde’s conviction that “poetry is not a luxury.” Participants include Alexandra Bell, Gabrielle Civil, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Daria Simone Harper, francine j. harris, Omotara James, Charleen McClure, Ladan Osman, Nicole Sealey, Evie Shockley, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, and Robyne Walker Murphy. Register for free here.
Now in its second year, the Guggenheim’s Poet-in-Residence program, which is presented in collaboration with the Academy of American Poets, continues to amplify diverse voices and perspectives on the visual arts and beyond.
Thursday, December 14 at 7 p.m. (virtual): Gather in Poems, an end-of-year offering featuring readings by Academy Chancellors and beloved poets in the community, hosted in the spirit of gathering, gratitude, and a shared hope for the upcoming year. Presented in collaboration with W. W. Norton, which is celebrating its centenary in 2023. Register for free here.
Wednesday, February 7 to Saturday, February 10, 2024 (in person): The Academy of American Poets at the 2024 AWP Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Drop by our booth to meet the Academy's new President and Executive Director, Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, and to pick up the latest issue of American Poets magazine, featuring essays on the environment, a collaborative poem by the 2023 Poet Laureate Fellows, and poems from celebrated poetry collections released in 2023. Learn more here.
- Saturday, February 10 at 12:10 p.m. CT: A reading by Suji Kwock Kim, winner of the Academy’s Walt Whitman Award in 2002; Sara Daniele Rivera, winner of the Academy's First Book Award in 2023; and Nicole Sealey, celebrated author of Ferguson Report (Alfred A. Knopf, 2023). With an introduction by Academy President and Executive Director Ricardo Alberto Maldonado. Learn more here.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. ET (virtual): The annual Blaney Lecture will be delivered by Jane Hirshfield, Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets. “She understands the world in all its happiness, melancholy, unpleasant surprise and moments of resilience,” writes the New York Times. Her latest book is The Asking: New and Selected Poems (Alfred A. Knopf, 2023). The Blaney Lecture features one of the nation’s most prominent poets lecturing on contemporary poetry and poetics. Past lectures have included Elizabeth Alexander on Lucille Clifton, Anne Carson on Homer, and Joy Harjo on Indigenous poetry. Hirshfield was awarded the 2004 Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by the Academy of American Poets. Register for free here.
About the Academy of American Poets
Founded in 1934, the Academy of American Poets is the United States’ 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 program, which includes the Poet Laureate Fellowships. 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 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. 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