New York, NY (December 17, 2020)— Submissions are now being accepted for the 2021 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships. The $50,000 fellowships will honor Poets Laureate of states, cities, counties, U.S. territories, or Tribal nations, enabling them to undertake impactful and innovative projects that will engage their fellow residents and address important issues with poetry. The fellowship program, made possible by a generous gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is now in its third year.
The 2021 panelists that will recommend the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships include former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser; Arts for Justice Fellow Mahogany L. Browne; Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna; National Student Poets Founder Olivia Morgan; Academy of American Poets Chancellor Emeritus and former Poet Laureate of Connecticut Marilyn Nelson; and others to be named. The panel will be co-chaired by Nicie Panetta, former Board chair of the Academy of American Poets; and Jennifer Benka, president and executive director of the Academy of American Poets. 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 guidelines for the 2021 Poets Laureate Fellowships.
Applications from qualified Poets Laureate will be accepted until February 23, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EST, 8:59 p.m. PST. To submit an application, please visit: https://poets.submittable.com/submit/180863/2021-academy-of-american-poets-laureate-fellowships
Read more about the 2020 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellows and the 2019 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellows and their civic projects.
About the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is the nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry with supporters in all fifty states. Founded in 1934, the organization annually awards more funds to individual poets than any other organization through its prize program, giving a total of $1,250,000 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. This year, in response to the global health crisis, the organization joined six other national organizations to launch Artist Relief, a multidisciplinary coalition of arts grantmakers and a consortium of foundations working to provide resources and funding to the country’s individual poets, writers, and artists who are impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.