Current:Home > FinanceAcademy of American Poets receives its largest ever donation -TrueNorth Finance Path
Academy of American Poets receives its largest ever donation
Indexbit Exchange View
Date:2025-04-08 19:43:43
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! (32192)
Related
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Here's why your North Face and Supreme gifts might not arrive by Christmas Day
- Horoscopes Today, December 20, 2023
- American consumers are feeling much more confident as holiday shopping season peaks
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Doctors in England begin a 3-day strike over pay at busy time of the year in National Health Service
- Top Hamas leader arrives in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza in another sign of group’s resilience
- How UPS is using A.I. to fight against package thefts
- 'Most Whopper
- Missouri Supreme Court strikes down law against homelessness, COVID vaccine mandates
Ranking
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- Earthquake in China leaves at least 126 dead, hundreds injured
- Fact-checking 'Maestro': What's real, what's 'fudged' in Netflix's Leonard Bernstein film
- Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka confronted by a fan on the field at Chelsea
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Duane Davis, man charged with Tupac Shakur's killing, requests house arrest, citing health
- 15 Celeb-Approved White Elephant Gifts Under $30 From Amazon That Will Steal The Show
- American consumers are feeling much more confident as holiday shopping season peaks
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
A Japan court orders Okinawa to approve a modified plan to build runways for US Marine Corps
Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka confronted by a fan on the field at Chelsea
Why Charles Melton Says Riverdale Truly Was My Juilliard
Bodycam footage shows high
New York man who served 37 years in prison for killing 2 men released after conviction overturned
The Emmy Awards: A guide to how to watch, who you’ll see, and why it all has taken so long
Swiss upper house seeks to ban display of racist, extremist symbols that incite hatred and violence