New York, NY (July 20, 2023)—In alliance with Amazon Literary Partnership, the Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of the Poetry Fund grants, which are provided annually to poetry organizations and presses that are selected from among a pool of applicants. Amazon Literary Partnership originally launched the Poetry Fund with the Academy in 2019 to further its role as a supporter of poetry organizations nationwide and to build the readership of poetry.
The Academy, in cooperation with Amazon Literary Partnership, convened a grantmaking panel this year that included M. Bartley Seigel, Aileen Cassinetto, and Celeste Guzmán Mendoza. Final award decisions were made by Amazon Literary Partnership and the Academy of American Poets.
The 2023 Poetry Fund grant recipients are:
The Beloit Poetry Journal Foundation
In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations Poets
The University of Arizona Poetry Center
“Since 2019, the Academy of American Poets has joined forces with Amazon Literary Partnership to support the tireless work of poetry presses and organizations across the nation. The seventeen recipients of the 2023 Poetry Fund speak to the power poetry has at the grassroots level,” said Ricardo Maldonado, President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. “We’re extremely grateful for the contributions they continue to make in our communities by fostering direct engagement between poetry and its readers, asking us to commit ourselves to more compassionate and engaged futures.”
“It’s an honor to fund these vital institutions that support poets in all aspects of their careers,” said Al Woodworth, Manager of Amazon Literary Partnership. “At Amazon, we believe in the power of the written word to expand our thinking, advance our empathy, and change our world. We are grateful for the incredible work that these organizations do to champion poets and their work, today and every day.”
Guided by the mission of having a lasting impact on the literary community, Amazon Literary Partnership’s annual grants have supported more than 160 literary organizations with $16 million in grant funding since 2009, helping many thousands of writers tell their stories and find their readers. Grant recipients include literary centers, writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, literary magazines, independent publishers, and poetry and translation programs. Writers supported by some of these organizations have gone on to become best-selling and award-winning authors and poets.
To learn more about Amazon Literary Partnership, visit: www.amazonliterarypartnership.com.
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 and beyond. The organization annually awards $1.3+ million to more than two hundred poets at various stages of their careers through its prize program, which includes the Poet Laureate Fellowships. The organization also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; established and organizes National Poetry Month each April; publishes the popular Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides free resources to K–12 educators, including the award-winning weekly Teach This Poem series; hosts an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition that promotes the value poets bring to our culture. To learn more about the Academy of American Poets, including its staff, its Board of Directors, and its Board of Chancellors, visit: https://poets.org.