Literature of the United States

Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets is the preeminent organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry. The academy was created in 1934 in New York City by Mrs. Marie Bullock with a mission to «support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.» In 1936, the academy was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization. Ms. Bullock was the president of the academy for the next half a century, running the academy out of her apartment for thirty of those years. She started the academy after her return from her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. Returning to America, Ms. Bullock was dismayed at the lack of support for poetry in her home country. Taking advice from friends such as Edwin Arlington Robinson and Joseph Auslander, Ms. Bullock raised plans and funds to create the academy and help support and nature the American poet.
Now celebrating over 70 years of existence, the academy fulfills its goals in two ways. The first, to «support American poets», is accomplished by the myriad of awards handed out by the academy. There are seven major awards handed out by the academy and over 200 college awards handed out at schools across the country. To «foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry,» the academy runs numerous programs, including Poets.org, the most popular site about poetry on the web; National Poetry Month (April), the largest literary celebration in the world; an array of Awards & Prizes for poets at every stage of their careers; American Poet, a biannual literary journal; and the Poetry Audio Archive, hundreds of audio recordings of poetry readings dating back to the early 1960s.

Awards given by the academy

Wallace Stevens Award – a lifetime achievement award of $100,000 to recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry
Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets – a $25,000 award given in memory of James Ingram Merrill, for distinguished poetic achievement at mid-career
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize – $25,000 for the best book of poetry published in the previous year
James Laughlin Award – $5,000 to recognize and support a poet's second book
Walt Whitman Award – first-book publication, $5,000, and a one-month artist's residency
Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards – $5,000 book prize and $20,000 fellowship (in alternating years) to recognize outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry
Harold Morton Landon Translation Award – $1,000 for a published translation of poetry from any language into English
College & University Prizes – $100 individual prizes at more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide