New York, NY (April 24, 2019)— The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce the first-ever recipients of the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships. These thirteen poets who serve as poets laureate of states, cities, and counties across the U.S. will receive a combined $1,050,000 in recognition of their literary merit and to support civic programs, which will take place over the next twelve months.
Among the list of the thirteen is Paisley Rekdal (CRF 2017), Poet Laureate of Utah.Paisley Rekdal was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She received an MA from the University of Toronto and an MFA from the University of Michigan. Rekdal’s most recent collections include Nightingale, forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press in 2019; Imaginary Vessels (Copper Canyon Press, 2016); Animal Eye (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012), winner of the 2013 Rilke Prize from the University of North Texas; and The Invention of the Kaleidoscope (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007). She currently teaches at the University of Utah. Rekdal, who will receive $100,000, plans to launch the website “Mapping Literary Utah,” which will contain videos, poems, and prose excerpts by writers that reside or have resided in Utah; and present a statewide poetry festival.
The Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships panel included past U.S. Poets Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, Robert Pinsky, and Natasha Trethewey; National Student Poets Program founder and member of President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities Olivia Morgan; MacArthur Fellow Natalie Diaz (CRF 2015); and Guggenheim Fellow Mark Nowak. The panel was cochaired by Eunice “Nicie” Panetta, executive producer and cohost of “Fresh,” a podcast series in development about the freshman class of the 116th Congress, and former board chair of the Academy of American Poets; and Jennifer Benka, president and executive director of the Academy of American Poets. Final award decisions, informed by the panel and the scope of the projects, were made by the Academy of American Poets.
Read the entire list of awardees here.