Grants

Started in 2022, the grants program supports nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, including the territories, that have a core commitment to poetry and the literary arts.

December 2024 marks the conclusion of the Poetry Foundation’s initial 3-year commitment to grantmaking. Pending Board approval in December, the Foundation will be announcing a new grantmaking strategy in early 2025 with updated priorities, eligibility guidelines, and deadlines. We will send out this update to all the applicants in our system.

Poetry Foundation grants

  • Grants

    The Equity in Verse grant category was created in direct response to the June 6, 2020 community letter requesting that the Poetry Foundation examine its historic cultural debt to poets of color. These grants are intended to provide support for nonprofit poetry and literary organizations, which include presses and publications, led and staffed by people of color.

  • Grants

    Poetry Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation Grants provide support to nonprofit organizations invested in at least one of the following priorities: Broadening the audiences for poetry; Increasing access to poetry; New collaborations and partnerships in poetry; and Innovations in the field of poetry, including investment in new technologies.

  • Grants

    Throughout the year, the Foundation may support other special events, opportunities, and programs that elevate and expose poetry and poets to a broader range of audiences. Special Opportunity grants are by invitation only.

Grants Information Session - July 18th, 2024

Watch a recording of the latest information session to learn about eligibility, the grant application process, and how to navigate the portal.

About Grants

Adult in front of  a chalkboard with preteens in the background. Text reads WordPlay Cincy Spring 2024 Equity In Verse Grantee-Partner.

Grantee-Partner Profile

WordPlay Cincy creates opportunities for children, teens, and young adults in Cincinnati, Ohio, to fulfill their potential through creative expression.

Two people stand at a table, engaging in conversation with a seated person who is signing a book.

Grantee-Partner Profile

One of the first poetry-dedicated publishing houses in the United States, Alice James Books focuses on supporting artists whose voices have been marginalized or who offer overlooked perspectives.

Grantee-Partner Profile

Mass Poetry delivers free poetry programs to underserved audiences in libraries, community centers, museums, and schools. 

Read All Profiles

Past Grants

  • Grants

    The 2022 Renewal and Recovery Grants build upon previous COVID-19 pandemic relief grants from the Poetry Foundation.

Other Ways We Fund Poetry

  • The Poetry Foundation offers annual awards that honor and celebrate the accomplishments of poets throughout various stages of their writing careers.

  • Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships are awarded annually to support exceptional US poets between 21 and 31 years of age.

  • Poetry does not charge fees to submit and it compensates all contributors for work it publishes.

  • Poetry awards prizes annually for work published in the magazine during the preceding year.