Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It is also the founder of Poetry magazine. The Poetry Foundation works to raise poetry to a more visible and influential position in American culture. In the long term, the Foundation aspires to alter the perception that poetry is a marginal art, and to make it directly relevant to the American public. Established in 2003 upon receipt of a major gift from philanthropist Ruth Lilly, the Poetry Foundation evolved from the Modern Poetry Association, which was founded in 1941 to support the publication of Poetry magazine. The gift from Ruth Lilly has allowed the Poetry Foundation to expand and enhance the presence of poetry in America and has established an endowment that will fund Poetry magazine in perpetuity.

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