New York, NY (May 6, 2021)— The Poetry Coalition, a network of 25+ poetry organizations coordinated by the Academy of American Poets, is pleased to announce the 2021–2022 Poetry Coalition Fellowships, which are paid fellowship positions for five individuals who will each assist a different Poetry Coalition organization for twenty hours per week over the course of a forty-week period. The fellows will also receive professional development opportunities.

The five organizations hosting this year’s Poetry Coalition Fellows this year are the Asian American Writers' Workshop, Beyond Baroque, In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets), Lambda Literary, and Zoeglossia.

Applications for the 2021 Poetry Coalition Fellowship program are being accepted from May 6, 2021 through July 6, 2021. The positions will begin on September 13, 2021 and end on June 30, 2022. Interested individuals that are 21 or older are encouraged to apply, including those who are enrolled in or have recently graduated from an MFA program in creative writing. 

To learn more or to apply for a Poetry Coalition Fellowship at any of the 2021 host organizations, visit their websites at the links below: 

Asian American Writers’ Workshop: https://aaww.org/about-us/opportunities/2021-poetry-coalition-fellow/

Beyond Baroque: http://www.beyondbaroque.org/fellowship.html

In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets): https://sites.uwm.edu/in-na-po/2021/04/29/job-opportunity-paid-poetry-coalition-fellowship-position/

Lambda Literary: https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2021/04/were-hiring-poetry-coalition-fellow/

Zoeglossia: http://www.zoeglossia.org/about

The goals of the Poetry Coalition Fellowship program are:

  • to help diversify the leadership of the nonprofit literary field by encouraging more inclusion of individuals from under-represented communities;
  • to develop future literary leaders regardless of educational background; 
  • to introduce the individuals who are interested to nonprofit literary arts management, fundraising, programming, and editorial work, providing experiences that will be useful as they seek jobs and inspiring them to consider working in the literary field; and 
  • to increase the capacity of each host organization by having additional assistance. 

The fellowship program is made possible by the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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. The Academy annually awards more funds to individual poets than any other organization through its prize program, giving a total of $1.25 million to more than 200 poets at various stages of their careers. The Academy also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly-funded website for poets and poetry; originated and organizes National Poetry Month; publishes the popular Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides award-winning resources to K–12 educators, including the Teach This Poem series; hosts an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition working together to promote the value poets bring to the country’s culture. 

About The Poetry Coalition

The Poetry Coalition is a national alliance of more than 25 organizations dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds. Members are nonprofit organizations whose primary mission is to promote poets and poetry, and/or multi-genre literary organizations that serve poets in the disability community and of specific racial, ethnic, or gender identities, backgrounds, or communities. All members present poets at live events. All members present poets at live events. Each March, members present programming across the country on a theme of social importance. The Poetry Coalition is coordinated by the Academy of American Poets and we are grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its support of this work.