Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets is the preeminent organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry.

History

The academy was created in 1934 in New York City by Mrs. Marie Bullock with a mission to "support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry." In 1936, the Academy was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization. Ms. Bullock was the president of the Academy for the next half a century, running the Academy out of her apartment for thirty of those years. She started the academy after her return from her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. Returning to America, Ms. Bullock was dismayed at the lack of support for poetry in her home country. Taking advice from friends such as Edwin Arlington Robinson and Joseph Auslander, Ms. Bullock drafted plans and raised funds to create the Academy and help support and nurture the American poet.

There are seven major awards handed out by the Academy and over 200 college awards sponsored at schools across the country. The Academy also runs numerous programs, including [http://www.poets.org Poets.org] , the most popular site about poetry on the web; National Poetry Month (April), the largest literary celebration in the world; an array of Awards & Prizes for poets at every stage of their careers; [http://www.poets.org/ampo "American Poet"] , a biannual literary journal; the [http://www.poets.org/poetsforum Poets Forum] ; and the [http://www.poets.org/audio Poetry Audio Archive] , which includes hundreds of recorded poetry readings dating back to the early 1960s.

In 2007, it was among over 530 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. [cite web| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/nyregion/06donate.html?ex=1278302400&en=93a1beabd4ede5b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss| title=New York Times: City Groups Get Bloomberg Gift of $20 Million Retrieved on September 3, 2007]

Awards given by the Academy

Awards from the Academy of American Poets

(in order of decreasing monetary value)
*Wallace Stevens Award — a lifetime achievement award of $100,000 to recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.
*Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets — a $25,000 award given in memory of James Ingram Merrill, for distinguished poetic achievement at mid-career
*Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize — $25,000 for the best book of poetry published in the previous year
*James Laughlin Award — $5,000 to recognize and support a poet's second book
*Walt Whitman Award — first-book publication, $5,000, and a one-month artist's residency
*Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards — $5,000 book prize and $20,000 fellowship (in alternating years) to recognize outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry
*Harold Morton Landon Translation Award — $1,000 for a published translation of poetry from any language into English
*College & University Prizes — $100 individual prizes at more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide

References

* [http://www.poets.org The Academy of American Poets official site]