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4 unusual facts about Poetry Foundation


Poetry Foundation

In 2003, Poetry magazine received a grant from the estate of Ruth Lilly originally said to be worth over $100 million, but which grew to be about $200 million when it was given out.

It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly.

The Poetry Out Loud recitation contest was created in 2006 by the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts to increase awareness of poetry through performance and competition.

Raúl Zurita

However, in late 2013, Copper Canyon Press, with support from The Poetry Foundation, will publish Pinholes in the Night: Essential Poems from Latin America, an intensely focused bilingual anthology of Latin American poetry.


Poetry magazine

Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Don Share, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000, and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately 100,000 submissions.

Ruth Lilly

Lilly made headlines in November 2002 when she pledged stock worth $100 million to the Poetry Foundation, a tiny Chicago nonprofit organization that publishes Poetry Magazine, and a similarly large gift to Americans for the Arts in Washington.


see also

Kristin Prevallet

A Helen Adam Reader: Selected Poems, Collages and Music, edited with an introduction by Kristin Prevallet, The National Poetry Foundation, 2007.

Ruth Lilly

The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize of $100,000 has been awarded annually since 1986 by the Poetry Foundation to honor a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition.