The Poetry Foundation is one of the most richly endowed literary organizations in the United States, with assets in the ballpark of $250 million due to donations from heiress Ruth Lilly. Every year since 1989, the foundation has awarded five fellowships to poets through a national competition. Now, thirty of those fellows—alongside more than 1,500 supporters—have written and signed a letter expressing dissatisfaction with the organization’s support of the Black community and other marginalized voices. It demands the resignation of the board’s president and board of trustees chair as well as a list of “tangible actions the Foundation will take towards supporting racial justice initiatives,” “meaningful, well-researched acknowledgment of the debt that the Foundation owes to Black poets,” and “specific acknowledgment of the harm done in recent years to Latinx poets, trans poets, disabled poets, and queer poets.” It asks for a public response within one week.
The Poetry Foundation has offered an initial response, stating, “We have been reviewing all feedback over the last several days shared both publicly and privately, and we accept the criticism, humbly, and are grateful for the opportunity to do better. Specifically, through all that is happening across the nation and world in support of Black lives, our fellows, contributors, and collaborators have generously taken the time to propose a way for us to move forward. We will honor the timing set forth in the community letter, and have been and will continue working to create a detailed plan of action to be announced.”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
