Equity in Verse

The Equity in Verse grant program was launched in direct response to the June 6, 2020, community letter calling on the Poetry Foundation to examine its cultural debt to poets of color. Designed to support nonprofit poetry and literary organizations led and staffed by people of color, the program recognized the integral contributions of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities to poetry—past, present, and future—and sought to address the historic underrecognition of their art, ideas, and labor.

Grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 for a 12-month period provided two types of support: general operating support for BIPOC-led or serving poetry or literary arts nonprofits with a significant focus on poetry and program support for BIPOC-led or serving organizations delivering multiple poetry programs.

The program, which was active from 2021-2024, reflected the Poetry Foundation’s commitment to honoring the legacy of past BIPOC poets, making space for living and future poets, and advancing equity within the field of poetry.

Learn about current grant opportunities

Equity in Verse Recipients
YearRecipientState/TerritoryAmountDescription
2024American Poetry MuseumWashington DC$15,000.00
2024AtelosNew York$10,000.00
2024Brew & ForgeMassachusetts$15,000.00
2024CityLit ProjectMaryland$40,000.00
2024ConTextosIllinois$30,000.00
2024contratiempoIllinois$15,000.00
2024Foglifter PressCalifornia$10,000.00
2024Guild Literary ComplexIllinois$40,000.00
2024In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations PoetsWisconsin
2024InsideOut Literary ArtsMichigan$30,000.00
2024O, MiamiFlorida$40,000.00
2024Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora at Illinois State UniversityIllinois$50,000.00
2024Poetry OnlineMinnesota$10,000.00
2024Radical ReversalNew Jersey$40,000.00
2024SISTORIESNorth Carolina$20,000.00
2024Split This RockWashington DC$40,000.00
2024Stomping Grounds Literary Arts InitiativeIllinois$25,000.00
2024Taller Comunidad La GoycoPuerto Rico$45,000.00
2024Third World Press FoundationIllinois$25,000.00
2024The Watering Hole Poetry OrganizationSouth Carolina$25,000.00
2024Alegria Bilingual Bookstores & Arts CollectiveCalifornia$25,000.00
2024American Poetry MuseumWashington DC$15,000.00
2024Artes de México en UtahUtah$20,000.00
2024Bamboo Ridge PressHawaii$35,000.00
2024Burst Into BooksIllinois$25,000.00
2024CantoMundoArizona$20,000.00
2024Cardboard House PressRhode Island$40,000.00
2024Cave CanemNew York$55,000.00
2024Community Literature InitiativeCalifornia$40,000.00
2024Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison UniversityVirginia$40,000.00
2024Griot Collective of West TennesseeTennessee$15,000.00
2024Infrarrealista ReviewTexas$15,000.00
2024John Walt FoundationIllinois$20,000.00
2024Kuumba LynxIllinois$40,000.00
2024Letras Latinas at University of Notre DameIndiana$35,000.00
2024Lucky JeffersonIllinois$10,000.00
2024Lugar ComunFlorida$25,000.00
2024Noemi PressArizona$40,000.00
2024Northwest New Mexico Arts CouncilNew Mexico$15,000.00
2024Poets HouseNew York$50,000.00
2024Puha HubiyaNew Mexico$15,000.00
2024Reading Between the LinesIllinois$35,000.00
2024Teachers and Writers CollaborativeNew York
2024The Beautiful Project, North CarolinaNorth Carolina$30,000.00
2024The Philly PigeonPennsylvania$20,000.00
2024Third World PressIllinois$25,000.00
2024Torch Literary ArtsTexas$40,000.00
2024WordPlay CincyOhio$20,000.00
2024Words of the PeopleOklahoma$35,000.00
2024Words To PowerColorado$20,000.00
2024Young Chicago AuthorsIllinois$45,000.00
2024Youth SpeaksCalifornia$40,000.00
2023Alegria Bilingual Bookstores & Arts CollectiveCalifornia$15,000.00
2023Alternative Field IncCalifornia$15,000.00
2023Bamboo Ridge PressHawaii$25,000.00
2023Burst Into BooksIllinois$25,000.00
2023Cardboard House PressArizona$25,000.00
2023Cave Canem Foundation, Inc.New York$65,000.00
2023ConTextoIllinois$40,000.00
2023DewMore BaltimoreMaryland$35,000.00
2023InsideOut Literary ArtsMichigan$50,000.00
2023Kearny Street WorkshopCalifornia$35,000.00
2023Kuumba LynxIllinois$40,000.00
2023Lambda LiteraryNew York$45,000.00
2023Love Now MediaPennsylvania$35,000.00
2023Lugar Comun IncFlorida$25,000.00
2023Noemi PressArizona$20,000.00
2023Northwest New Mexico Arts CouncilNew Mexico$15,000.00
2023Radius of Arab American Writers IncTexas$15,000.00
2023SISTORIESNorth Carolina$20,000.00
2023The Philly PigeonPennsylvania$20,000.00
2023The Watering Hole Poetry OrganizationSouth Carolina$25,000.00
2023The Word, A Storytelling SanctuaryColorado$45,000.00
2023Torch Literary ArtsTexas$40,000.00
2023Urban Word NYCNew York
2023Voices of our Nations Arts FoundationFlorida$30,000.00
2023Young Chicago AuthorsIllinois$45,000.00
2023826CHIIllinois$30,000.00
2023BreatheINKNorth Carolina$30,000.00
2023Brew & ForgeMassachusetts$20,000.00
2023CityLit ProjectMaryland$40,000.00
2023Diasporic Vietnamese Artists NetworkCalifornia$40,000.00
2023Foglifter PressCalifornia$15,000.00
2023Guild Literary ComplexIllinois$30,000.00
2023In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations PoetsWisconsin$50,000.00
2023MiznaMinnesota$35,000.00
2023Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora at Illinois State University,Illinois$50,000.00
2023Radical ReversalNew Jersey$50,000.00
2023Split This RockWashington DC$40,000.00
2023Stomping Grounds Literary Arts InitiativeIllinois$30,000.00
2022826 New OrleansLouisiana$20,000.00
2022Artes de México en UtahUtah$15,000.00
2022CantoMundoNew York$20,000.00
2022CityLit ProjectMaryland$50,000.00
2022Community Literature InitiativeCalifornia$50,000.00
2022Furious Flower Poetry Center/James Madison UniversityVirginia$50,000.00
2022In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations PoetsWest Virginia$65,000.00
2022KUNDIMAN INCNew York$50,000.00
2022Letras Latinas at University of Notre DameIndiana$40,000.00
2022MiznaMinnesota$35,000.00
2022Motor City SingsMichigan$20,000.00
2022Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora (at Illinois State University)Illinois$50,000.00
2022Puha HubiyaNew Mexico$20,000.00
2022Radical ReversalNew York$65,000.00
2022Stomping Grounds Literary Arts InitiativeIllinois$35,000.00
2022Teachers and Writers CollaborativeNew York$30,000.00
2022The Diatribe Inc.Michigan$65,000.00
2022Third World Press FoundationIllinois$50,000.00
2022Twelve Literary Arts Inc,Ohio$20,000.00
2022University of Guam PressGuam$65,000.00
2022University of Wisconsin, MilwaukeeWisconsin$25,000.00