Current:Home > InvestAcademy of American Poets receives its largest ever donation-LoTradeCoin
Academy of American Poets receives its largest ever donation
View Date:2024-12-23 23:18:55
Writers all over the United States get support from The Academy of American Poets. Its programming, which includes classroom materials and public readings, reaches millions of Americans.
Last year, the organization gave out 22 Poet Laureate fellowships of $50,000 each. Recipients ranged from Hawaii's Brandy Nālani McDougall to South Carolina's Glenis Redmond to New Hampshire's Diannely Antigua. There are other ways to become a poet laureate — for example, a governor or mayor can name a poet to the position in their city or state — but these fellowships are intended to help poets connect with their communities, with an emphasis on young people, and to create new work.
In 2020, the Poet Laureate program received a $4.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, enough to support it for the next three years. On Wednesday, the Mellon Foundation announced it would top that grant with an additional $5.7 million to support both the Poet Laureates and the Poetry Coalition, a national alliance of more than 30 organizations working together to promote poetry.
The gift is the largest philanthropic donation in the organization's history. The Academy of American Poets dates back to 1934. It was founded by a 23-year-old poet and astronomer, Marie Bullock, an American educated in Paris who came back to New York and married a Wall Street titan.
"We are so pleased to continue supporting the Academy as it furthers its vital mission through the Poet Laureate Fellowships and the Poetry Coalition," said Mellon Foundation president Elizabeth Alexander in a statement. "These are programs that uplift poets and their work across the United States, creating opportunities for learning and community among readers of multiple generations and cultures. This renewed funding will help to ensure that all of us can access the beauty and wisdom found within the rich and enduring practice of poetry."
"Throughout history, poets have helped us examine ourselves and our responsibilities to each other," said Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. "The Academy believes that poetry is best served by a wide range of national and regional actions, and includes a spectrum of voices that speak directly to the communities of which we are a part."
Programs backed by the Poetry Coalition reach more than 30 million individuals annually, according to the organization. In 2023, it hosted a series focusing on themes of grief. It included readings, workshops and various publications and was called "and so much lost you'd think / beauty had left a lesson: Poetry & Grief."
The title was taken from a poem by Ed Roberson, a Chicago-based writer who teaches at Northwestern University and is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Republican Dan Newhouse wins reelection to US House in Washington
- Photos: Uber, Lyft drivers strike in US, UK on Valentine's Day
- 'I can't move': Pack of dogs bites 11-year-old boy around 60 times during attack in SC: Reports
- Jennifer Lopez says new album sums up her feelings, could be her last: 'True love does exist'
- Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’
- Pennsylvania mom convicted of strangling 11-year-old son, now faces life sentence
- Vanessa Hudgens spills on working out, winding down and waking up (including this must-have)
- Alaska woman gets 99 years for orchestrating catfished murder-for-hire plot in friend’s death
- Rafael dissolves into a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico after hitting Cuba as a hurricane
- Authorities are investigating the death of Foremost Group CEO Angela Chao in rural Texas
Ranking
- Kentucky governor says investigators will determine what caused deadly Louisville factory explosion
- Migrating animals undergo perilous journeys every year. Humans make it more dangerous
- MLB power rankings: From 1 to 30, how they stack up entering spring training
- 'I just went for it': Kansas City Chiefs fan tackles man he believed opened fire at parade
- Katherine Schwarzenegger Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Pratt
- Russia court sentences American David Barnes to prison on sexual abuse claims dismissed by Texas authorities
- Top takeaways from Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis' forceful testimony in contentious hearing on whether she should be removed from Trump Georgia 2020 election case
- Godzilla, Oscar newbie, stomps into the Academy Awards
Recommendation
-
Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post
-
'Blue Bloods' returns for a final season: Cast, premiere date, where to watch and stream
-
Inter Miami preseason match Thursday: Will Lionel Messi play against hometown club?
-
See Zendaya and Tom Holland's Super Date Night in First Public Outing Since Breakup Rumors
-
Deion Sanders says he would prevent Shedeur Sanders from going to wrong team in NFL draft
-
Jennifer Lopez will go on tour for the first time in five years: How to get tickets
-
There are more than 300 headache causes. These are the most common ones.
-
Mother, daughter killed by car that ran red light after attending Drake concert: Reports