The Academy of American Poets announced on August 6, 2026, that it will award $50,000 each to twenty-two poets serving as poets laureate in cities, counties, states, and Tribal communities across the United States.
The organization will also distribute a combined $81,000 in matching grants to fourteen local nonprofit groups partnering with the laureates on their initiatives.
The Poet Laureate Fellowships, which recognize literary achievement while funding public poetry programs, have been running since 2019.
Since then, the Academy has awarded $8.75 million to 171 poets laureate nationwide, along with more than $620,000 in matching grants supporting 93 community organizations.
A National Effort with Local Impact
The 2026 fellows come from across the country, including Missouri, Colorado, Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Illinois and the Navajo Nation, among many others. Recipients were selected by a panel of poets and arts professionals, including former Michigan Poet Laureate Fellow Nandi Comer and Chancellor Emerita Naomi Shihab Nye.
Robert Casper, president and executive director of the Academy, said poets laureate help bring poetry into public life in ways that build connection within communities. He credited the Mellon Foundation for continuing to support the fellowship program.
Among this year’s recipients is Missouri Poet Laureate Justin Hamm, who plans to use the funding to expand his Missouri Poet Baseball Cards project.
The initiative pairs collectible baseball-style cards featuring poets connected to the state with a free classroom curriculum built around fantasy baseball themes. Hamm said the award will let him grow the project in ways that would not have been possible otherwise, while also giving him room to pursue his own writing.
Projects Reflect Diverse Community Needs
Other fellows are pursuing projects addressing local concerns. In Tompkins County, New York, Nicole V. Basta will lead workshops focused on water and environmental threats to Cayuga Lake.
In Pacific Palisades, California, Michelle Bitting will work with students affected by the 2025 wildfires. In San Mateo County, Antonio De Jesús López will run writing workshops inside a county jail.
Other projects include sidewalk poetry installations in Costa Mesa, an anthology built from workshops in Chicago and a statewide initiative in New Mexico centered on Indigenous youth poets.
The Academy of American Poets, founded in 1934, is the largest poetry membership organization in the United States. It publishes Poets.org and the Poem-a-Day series and organizes National Poetry Month each April.
