Lit: Academy of American Poets Gets $2m Grant from Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $2.2 million to the Academy of American Poets.

It is by far the largest donation the Mellon Foundation has ever made in honor of the art form, said Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the Mellon Foundation, who is a poet herself.

“Philanthropy hasn’t done a lot for poetry,” she said. “But on the other hand, poetry survives no matter what.”

The funds are divided into two grants. The first will help start a new fellowship program to support poets laureate of states, cities, United States territories or tribal nations across the country. (Applications open Jan. 15.) In April, the Academy of American Poets will bestow 10 to 20 fellowships that will range from $50,000 to $100,000 each.

The second grant will go toward the Poetry Coalition, a national alliance of more than 20 poetry organizations, several of which are nonprofits. The funding will support the coalition’s work over the next four years and will help create a pilot fellowship program that will offer part-time, paid positions at select member organizations.

The Academy of American poets was founded in 1934. It aims to amplify poets and poetry through a number of programs and publications, such as the website Poets.org and National Poetry Month, which it founded in 1996.