The Poetry Foundation works to raise poetry to a more visible and influential position in American culture. Rather than celebrating the status quo, the Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry. In the long term, the Foundation aspires to alter the perception that poetry is a marginal art, and to make it directly relevant to the American public.

Poetry magazine continues to present not only the best new poetry written by distinguished poets, but actively seeks out exciting work by young writers. The magazine also features prose on issues related to poetry and contemporary culture, including criticism, personal essays, reviews, exchanges, and other specially commissioned articles. Visit Poetry >>

American Life in Poetry provides newspapers and online publications with a free weekly column featuring contemporary American poems. The sole mission of this project is to promote poetry: America Life in Poetry seeks to create a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. There are no costs for reprinting the columns; we do require that you register your publication and that the text of the column be reproduced without alteration. Visit the Site >> Read the Press Release >>

The Foundation is extending its distribution activities from the printed to the electronic word, creating a major American website for poetry. To develop new audiences the Foundation is creating quality online content and innovative online programming to reach out to users from children to seniors, casual readers to serious students of poetry. The Foundation website, to be expanded in the summer of 2005, will ultimately include a searchable archive of contemporary and classical verse, a poetry glossary, and a children's poetry center.

The Foundation has commissioned an unprecedented, large-scale national research initiative on the state of poetry in America. In lieu of the usual anecdotal information about poetry's isolation, this study will establish a statistical basis for understanding attitudes about poetry, the uses of poetry, what kinds of poetry are being heard and read, and where poetry is encountered. This will be an important survey of poetry's role in American life among a broad range of audience segments. The results will be published and widely disseminated by the Foundation.

The Foundation strives to offer the best interactive poetry resources, learning tools, and games, in order to develop new audiences for poetry among children and young adults. The Foundation will identify the needs of teachers and school libraries and create resource materials to expand the role and teaching of poetry in schools.

As a way to dramatically expand the presence of poetry in our culture, the Foundation actively pursues unique projects that enhance the presence of poetry in each of the major media channels: newspapers, general and special interest magazines, radio, television, and film.

Through a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, a National Recitation Contest pilot program will give thousands of school children the basis for a life-long appreciation of poetry. Read More >>

The Foundation has expanded its prizes program with an emphasis on new awards to under-recognized poets and types of poetry. More About Prizes >>

• The Neglected Masters Award brings to the reading public renewed critical attention to works of under-recognized, significant American poets. If unpublished or no longer in print these Neglected Masters are published in collaboration with the Library of America.
  
  
• The Emily Dickinson First Book Award recognizes an American poet over the age of 50 who has yet to publish a first book. Guidelines >>
  
  
• The Mark Twain Poetry Award, honoring a poet's contribution to humor in American poetry, is given in the belief that humorous poetry can also be seriously good poetry, and in the hope that American poetry will in time produce its own Mark Twain.
  
  
• The Randall Jarrell Award in Criticism recognizes and rewards poetry criticism that is intelligent and learned, as well as lively and enjoyable to read. The prize is intended for criticism aimed at a large general readership rather than an audience of specialists.
  

As an active civic participant in Chicago, the Foundation works to maintain an important presence for poetry in the cultural life of the City, the home of Poetry magazine for nearly a century. The Foundation offers local programming that develops new audiences for poetry and fills unmet needs within the community. Where possible, the Foundation develops and tests its new ideas and national programming concepts in Chicago.