Zoeglossia Receives 2022 Poetry Fund Grant to Help Support Programming
Aug. 21, 2022
Zoeglossia was recently awarded a grant from the Academy of American Poets in alliance with Amazon Literary Partners to support programming for poets with disabilities. The $7500 award will help provide funding for Zoeglossia’s annual Conference/Retreat and Poem of the Week series.
“It means so much to have the support of the Academy of American Poets which has been doing so much to advance poetry in our culture,” said Zoeglossia Executive Director Sheila Black. “We’re grateful to Amazon Literary Partnerships for supporting poetry community through this initiative.”
Founded by poets Jennifer Bartlett, Sheila Black and Connie Voisine, Zoeglossia is a nonprofit literary organization that dedicates itself to providing inclusive space for poets who identify as disabled through programs such as an annual literary retreat and Poem of the Week (POTW) series. The poetry series features four disabled poets chosen by a different curator each month.
“Through Poem of the Week, Zoeglossia is building a significant archive of diverse and incredible disability poetry,” said Tonya Suther, Zoeglossia webmaster. “It’s been such an honor reading the work and making it available for use by teachers, scholars, as well as for the joy of readers everywhere.”
“With this much-needed gift, Academy of American Poets is helping amplify and champion disability voices and perspectives,” Black said.
Zoeglossia was among 24 recipients selected by the Academy or American Poets in alliance with the Amazon Literary Partnership to receive the grant this year.
Guided by the mission of having a lasting impact on the literary community, the Amazon Literary Partnership’s annual grants have supported more than 150 literary organizations with $15 million in grant funding since 2009, helping many thousands of writers tell their stories and find their readers. Grant recipients include literary centers, writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, literary magazines, independent publishers, and poetry and translation programs. Writers supported by some of these organizations have gone on to become best-selling and award-winning authors and poets. Through their partnership with Academy of American Poets, Amazon has also played a major role in supporting poetry organizations.
To learn more about the Amazon Literary Partnership, visit: www.amazonliterarypartnership.com.
To learn more about the Academy of American poets and see the full list of recipients, visit
https://poets.org/academy-american-poets.
To learn more about Zoeglossia and their programs, visit: Zoeglossia.org.