November 13, 2019

Poetry Leaders from Across the U. S. to Gather in Florida to Mark Dramatic Growth in Readers and Historic Philanthropic Gifts

by Nailah Taman | in Literary

New York, NY (November 8, 2019)— Leaders from more than 25 national, regional, and local poetry organizations will hold a first-ever gathering in Miami, Florida from November 15 to 17. The organizations are members of the Poetry Coalition, an alliance dedicated to increasing the visibility of poets and poetry and to demonstrating the art form’s ability to address timely and important issues. Together, the organizations reach more than 3 million readers each year. 

The Poetry Coalition is meeting in Miami in part to help draw attention to two recent dramatic advances in American poetry: a report by the National Endowment for the Arts which demonstrated that poetry readership has nearly doubled in the past five years, and a historic philanthropic investment in the art form. The Academy of American Poets, which coordinates the Coalition, received $2.2 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and O, Miami —the organization that is hosting the gathering and which produces an annual poetry festival— received $1.25 million from the Knight Foundation.

As part of the national gathering, a poetry reading with award-winning poets Campbell McGrath, Poet Laureate Fellow Raquel Salas Rivera, and Presidential Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco will be held on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m. at the Pérez Art Museum. This event is free and open to the public.
 Attendees include executive and senior staff from the Academy of American Poets, the producer of Poets.org; the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and National Students Poets program; the Asian American Writers’ Workshop; Beyond Baroque; CantoMundo, which serves Latinx poets; Cave Canem, which serves African American poets; the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, the largest in the nation; Kundiman, which serves Asian American poets; Lambda Literary, which serves LGBTQ writers; Letras Latinas at Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, which serves Latinx poets; Mass Poetry, which produces the Massachusetts Poetry Festival; Mizna, which serves Arab American poets; O, Miami; The Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives at SFSU; the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine; The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s; the Poetry Society of America; Poets House; Split This Rock poetry festival in Washington, D.C.; the University of Arizona Poetry Center; Urban Word and the Youth Poet Laureate program; the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State; Woodland Pattern Book Center, the largest literary center in Wisconsin; Youth Speaks, which produces Brave New Voices, and Zoeglossia, which serves poets with disabilities. The Literature Director of the National Endowment for the Arts, Amy Stolls, and the Head of the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress, Rob Casper, will both attend. 
 
“It’s been an important year for O, Miami,” said P. Scott Cunningham, founder and director of the organization. “Knight Foundation’s investment in our mission to have everyone in Miami encounter a poem has made so much new work possible, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to celebrate this moment with the Poetry Coalition in residence at our home at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach.”

“We’re grateful to O, Miami for hosting the Poetry Coalition this coming weekend. Having an opportunity to learn more about their work to bring poetry to the public in new and innovative ways will inspire us as we think about our own programs,” said Jennifer Benka, executive director of the Academy of American Poets, which coordinates the work of the coalition. 
 
While in Miami, the Poetry Coalition will be planning for a series of programs in March 2020 that will address a socially relevant theme. Last March, Coalition programming was on the theme of Poetry & Democracy; it reached more than 250,000 individuals in 11 cities with poetry readings, panel discussions, writing workshops, publications of poems, and social media-based projects. The Poetry Coalition’s work is supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Academy of American Poets.
 
About the Poetry Coalition
The Poetry Coalition is a national alliance of organizations dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds. The Academy of American Poets serves as the administrative and fiscal lead for the Poetry Coalition. The University of Arizona Poetry Center and the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University assist with this work. View the full membership list of the Poetry Coalition here. Learn more about the history of the Poetry Coalition here. 

About the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. The organization 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; creates and distributes Teach This Poem and other award-winning resources for K-12 educators; hosts an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and awards the American Poets Prizes. In addition, the Academy of American Poets coordinates a national Poetry Coalition working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.