NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

The Academy of American Poets was founded in 1934 to support American poets and foster appreciation of their work. The academy currently administers three major national initiatives, each of which is aimed at connecting the public to the pleasures of poetry.

Launched by the Academy in April of 1996, National Poetry Month is one of the the largest literary celebrations  in the world—bringing together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets from all over the country to celebrate this art and its vital place in our culture. An acclaimed series of readings is held by the Academy at various venues, and there are related festivals, book displays, readings, workshops and other events in all states.

The Academy's website, Poets.org, presents a wealth of great poems, audio recordings, poet biographies, interactive discussions about poetry, audio clips of poems read by their authors, an extensive national poetry calendar and other free resources.

The Poets.org Audio Archive is another free resource which offers readings by some of the most renowned poets from the past 75 years.

The academy publishes American Poet, a biannual literary journal, which is sent to members, and conducts High School Poetry Workshops for New York City public school students.

The Academy also awards prizes to accomplished poets at all stages of their careers—from hundreds of student prizes at colleges nationwide to the Wallace Stevens Award for lifetime achievement in the art of poetry.

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• Archive: Poets.org currently features more than 2,500 poems, with new ones being added all the time. You can search for text within a poem, or browse the list by title, author, or first line.
• Audio Guides: The Poetry Audio Archive of Poets.org is a free audio and video resource featuring hundreds of readings and talks by a some of the greatest of poets of our time.
• Gift Shops: Order audio recordings, dvds and books from the Poets.org store

Get involved with Academy of American Poets

• Donations through Academy of American Poets's Web site: Poets.org is just one of many programs run by the Academy of American Poets. The Academy serves millions of people every year and depends upon its generous donors to help maintain the highest standards in its programming.
• Memberships: Join the Academy of American Poets today! Your financial support allows the Academy to deliver the high-quality programs—such as National Poetry Month, the Poetry Audio Archive, and this award-winning Web site, Poets.org—that millions of poets, students, teachers, librarians, and poetry lovers of all ages from across the country depend upon each year.