The Academy of American Poets is the nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry with supporters in all fifty states and beyond. For over three generations, the organization has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, one of the leading poetry sites online; American Poets, a biannual magazine; an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and its education programs.
The organization’s mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.
The Academy was founded by twenty-three-year-old Marie Bullock in 1934 in New York City and it was officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1936.
It is impossible to convey the unflagging buoyancy and enthusiasm with which Marie Bullock met every challenge during the long course of her brilliantly successful crusade on poetry’s behalf. She was a gallant, devoted, and generous champion of a cause that had few champions before her, and none so successful. American poetry and their readers are all in her debt.