The Academy of American Poets is the largest organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry. The academy was created in 1934 in New York City by Ms. Marie Bullock with a mission to "support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry." In 1936, the academy was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization. Ms. Bullock was the president of the academy for the next half a century, running the academy out of her apartment for thirty of those years. She started the academy after her return from her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. Returning to America, Ms. Bullock was dismayed at the lack of support for poetry in her home country. Taking advice from friends such as Edwin Arlington Robinson and Joseph Auslander, Ms. Bullock raised plans and funds to create the academy and help support and nuture the American poet. Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The Sorbonne is frequently used in ordinary parlance as synonymous with the faculty of theology of Paris or the University of Paris in its entirety. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 - April 6, 1935) was an American poet, who won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. ... Joseph Auslander (born ) held the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress between 1937 and 1941. ...

Now celebrating over 70 years of existence, the academy fulfills its goals in two ways. The first, to "support American poets", is accomplished by the myriad of awards handed out by the academy. There are seven major awards handed out by the academy and over 200 college awards handed out at schools across the country. To "foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry," the academy runs numerous programs, including Poets.org, National Poetry Month (April), an array of prizes for poets at every stage of their careers, and the Poetry Audio Archive, over 500 audio recordings of poetry dating back to the 1960s.

References

• The Academy of American Poets official site
• Review of the Academy's magazine