Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets supports American poets at all stages of their careers and fosters the appreciation of contemporary poetry. To achieve its mission, the Academy administers several major national initiatives aimed at educating the widest possible sector of the American public about the pleasures and benefits of reading poetry: National Poetry Month, established by the Academy in 1996 and now the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, our award-winning website, which receives over 1 million visitors each month, making it the most popular site about poetry on the Internet, and which offers thousands of poems and hundreds of essays, interviews, biographies, and audio recordings. The Academy also operates a Membership program, serving 8,500 people nationwide; maintains a Poetry Audio Archive, comprising over 500 recordings dating back to 1963; publishes American Poet, a biannual journal and membership magazine; conducts High School Poetry Workshops for students each summer; and administers the most important collection of poetry awards in the United States, from student prizes at 200 colleges across the country to an award for lifetime achievement in the art of poetry.