Project 19 is the New York Philharmonic’s multi-season initiative to commission and premiere new works by nineteen women composers, from Pulitzer Prize winners to emerging talents, to mark the centennial of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Launched in February 2020, Project 19 is the single largest women-only commissioning initiative in history. As part of the project, the Academy of American Poets has partnered with the Philharmonic to commission nineteen new poems by award-winning poets Elizabeth AlexanderEllen BassKimberly BlaeserMahogany L. BrowneClaudia Castro LunaTina ChangMarilyn ChinNatalie DiazRita DoveBrenda HillmanLinda GregersonJoy LadinAda LimónAimee NezhukumatathilAlicia OstrikerPaisley RekdalEvie ShockleyMaggie Smith, and Mai Der Vang.

The Academy dedicated each Saturday in March 2020 of our Poem-a-Day series to four poems written for the Project 19 initiative and featuring an extended About This Poem statement. Each featured poet also curated collections of poems by others that speak to Poetry & Protest. 

Go to March 7, featuring Marilyn Chin
Go to March 14, featuring Linda Gregerson.
Go to March 21, featuring Mahogany L. Browne.
Go to March 28, featuring Natalie Diaz.