Since its founding in 1934, the Academy of American Poets has focused on supporting poets at all stages of their careers and fostering a love and appreciation of poetry in the nation. To that end, they award seven major poetry prizes throughout the year and 200 college prizes at various schools throughout the country. The Academy is the founder of National Poetry Month (which was last month – April), the largest literary celebration in the world. It helps ensure the continuing growth and vitality of poetry by providing free lesson plans and tools to teachers, and by maintaining an audio archive of poetry readings dating back to the 1960s.

The Academy also supports and fosters the love of poetry in more subtle ways – like the interactive poetry map found on the Academy web site. It offers links to all sorts of resources for poets in every one of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Not sure where to find poetry in your area? Check out the Poetry Map at www.poets.org to find some and indulge yourself.