I’ve experienced firsthand the Academy’s unparalleled support of poets and their communities, and I’m deeply disheartened by the termination of their grant with the NEA as it puts at risk the vital work that they do. Poets have carried our nation through its most pivotal moments, and the Academy now needs and deserves our support to defend not defund poetry.
From the Academy of American Poets:
In 1970, just five years after the founding of the National Endowment of the Arts, Academy Chancellor Emeritus W. H. Auden noted in an interview with the Guardian that his “only duty as a poet is to defend the use of language.”
The Academy of American Poets, like so many arts organizations, received notice that our contract with the NEA has been terminated. The communication stated that our project, which “showcases American poets and fosters public interest in poetry,” no longer aligns “with the Administration’s agenda.”
This grant termination, which will produce a significant gap in our budget, is a threat to our work to champion poets and poetry.
Today, we are reaching out to ask you to defend the future of poetry.
Since our founding during the Great Depression in 1934, through periods of cultural upheaval, wars, and moments of political division, the Academy has stood with poets, recognizing the power of language to help us understand the world more fully and make it more bearable.
For many years, federal funding has enabled the Academy to add thousands of poems and poet biographies to Poets.org and to publish Poem-a-Day every year on all 365 days, including 260 new poems by contemporary poets. It has also helped us distribute free educational resources to students and teachers across the nation.
Today, we’re asking you to help. If you are able, please make a contribution. Your donation will help bridge our budget gap and directly support poets, poetry education, and poetry resources for all.
You can also help defend your belief in the public support of poetry by contacting your representatives and letting them know why the arts are so important to you and your community.
And you can ensure that the teachers, educators, and librarians in your network have the materials they need to bring poetry into their schools and communities.
Defend poetry. And help us continue carrying forward a legacy we’ve built together for more than ninety years.
With gratitude and resolve,
Ricardo Maldonado
President and Executive Director
Aileen Cassinetto 