Foundation News

Announcing the Poetry Foundation’s Fall 2022 Grant Awardees

Originally Published: December 15, 2022
Red and black text “Poetry Foundation Announcing Fall 2022 Grant Awardees” with abstract red swirls and gray dots.

The Poetry Foundation has completed its first public grant application cycle. Nearly 250 proposal applications were submitted for $1,435,000 in available funds. This grants cycle, combined with the $1,000,000 awarded in Renewal and Recovery grants for continued pandemic relief funding in June and the more than $500,000 awarded to partners throughout the year, totals over $3,000,000 in grants awarded by the Poetry Foundation in 2022. 

The Poetry Foundation is proud to announce the 39 nonprofit organizations that received funding in this round of grants, as well as the 9 organizations that were awarded special grants in these categories prior to the fall cycle (this latter group is indicated with an asterisk*). Of the 39 organizations funded this round, 22 (56%) received general operating support, 27 (69%) are BIPOC-led organizations, and 18 (46%) are receiving financial support from the Poetry Foundation for the first time.

In keeping with its commitment to the principles of trust-based philanthropy, the grants program implemented a community-based proposal review process. The participatory process consisted of external reviewers from the arts and culture community who were charged with making recommendations for funding to an internal committee at the Poetry Foundation consisting of the President, VP of Programs and Engagement, and Grants Manager. The 23 reviewers were selected from an open application process; 21 identify as poets with experience working at university poetry centers and programs, literary arts nonprofit organizations, and literary publications and presses; two of the reviewers currently work at grantmaking organizations that fund arts-based nonprofits.

This robust slate of grantee-partners is committed to increasing access to poetry and support for poets through publications, educational activities, festivals, writing workshops, residencies, and more. Congratulations to all of these grantee-partners! 

The Foundation’s next cycle of Equity in Verse and Poetry Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation grants will open in January 2023 with a March 1, 2023 deadline. For more information please visit PoetryFoundation.org/Grants.

Equity in Verse 
826 New Orleans, Louisiana, $20,000
African Poetry Book Fund at University of Nebraska-Lincoln,Nebraska, $112,500*
Artes de México en Utah, Utah,$15,000
CantoMundo, New York, $20,000
Cave Canem, New York, $75,000*
CityLit Project, Maryland, $50,000
Community Literature Initiative, California, $50,000
Furious Flower Poetry Center/James Madison University, Virginia, $50,000
In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations Poets, Wisconsin, $65,000
KUNDIMAN INC, New York, $50,000
Letras Latinas at University of Notre Dame, Indiana, $40,000
Mizna, Minnesota, $35,000
Motor City Sings, Michigan, $20,000
Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora (at Illinois State University), Illinois, $50,000
Puha Hubiya, New Mexico, $20,000
Radical Reversal, New York, $65,000
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center,Washington D.C., $65,000*
Stomping Grounds Literary Arts Initiative, Illinois, $35,000
Teachers and Writers Collaborative, New York, $30,000
The Diatribe Inc.,Michigan, $65,000
Third World Press Foundation,Illinois, $50,000
Twelve Literary Arts Inc, Ohio, $20,000
University of Guam Press, Guam, $65,000
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, $25,000

Poetry Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation 
916 Ink,California, $10,000
Blue Stoop of CultureWorks, Pennsylvania, $35,000
Brick Street Poetry Inc.,Indiana, $10,000
California Poets in the Schools, California, $50,000
ChiArts Foundation, Illinois, $50,000
Chicago Poetry Center, Illinois, $50,000
Gwendolyn Brooks Social Justice Initiative, University of Illinois, Illinois, $50,000
Kitchen Table Literary Arts, Florida, $10,000
MacDowell,New Hampshire, $12,500*
MAKE Literary Productions, Illinois, $20,000
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, Minnesota, $50,000
O, Miami, Florida, $50,000
Parachute Literary Arts Inc, New York, $20,000
Path with Art,Washington, $20,000
Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts and Entertainment District, Maryland, $50,000
Poetic Justice, Oklahoma, $50,000
Poetry@Tech, Georgia Tech University, Georgia, $24,000*
Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project, Illinois, $15,000*
Ragdale, Illinois, $50,000*
Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts, 2023, Illinois, $50,000
Southern Word, Tennessee, $25,000
Steppenwolf Theater, Illinois, $25,000*
Sundress Publications,Tennessee, $10,000
Zoeglossia, New Mexico, $10,000