Poetry Foundation & Poetry Magazine

09/11/2026

They call you the New World
but I close my eyes and the cold is a cloud
that envelopes history.

– Fernando Valverde translated by Carolyn Forché with today's

I can hear the clouds floating past, the ocean currents and the footsteps of the young clambering over the weeping piers. This is the future, to…

09/10/2026

Congratulations to "Nothingism" author Jason Schneiderman for winning the 2026 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism! The award commends an outstanding book-length work of criticism published in the US. Read more about the award and why the committee chose "Nothingism" here: https://buff.ly/Fcpj8Xm

09/10/2026

The cat is officially out of the bag — Professor Emeritus Robert Pinsky is the 2026 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winner!

Congratulations, Robert — we’re so happy for you!

09/10/2026

The light passes
from ridge to ridge,
from flower to flower—
the hepaticas, wide-spread
under the light
grow faint—
the petals reach inward,
the blue tips bend
toward the bluer heart
and the flowers are lost.

–H.D. with today's
https://bit.ly/3SjVtwb

09/09/2026

The Poetry Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Pegasus Awards, a suite of literary prizes established by the Foundation in 2004! They are:

🎉 Robert Pinsky, 2026 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
🎉 Nikki Grimes, 2026 Young People's Poet Laureate
🎉 Luis J. Rodriguez, 2026 Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry
🎉 Jason Schneiderman, 2026 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism
🎉 Meg Day, 2026 Pegasus Poetry Book Prize

Learn more about the awardees and the selection process: https://bit.ly/4x9ME6N

09/09/2026

He came to church straight from the stomp dance
Wearing moccasins under his wedding dress.

Bearded, belled and turtle-shelled
He wore moccasins under his wedding dress.

–Chip Livingston with "The Other Foot" featured in the September issue of POETRY.

Read the full poem https://bit.ly/4xR6o0g

09/08/2026

On the latest episode of the podcast, Marcus Wicker and host Helena de Groot talk hip hop, aliens, and real estate. 👽

Listen here: https://bit.ly/4gJrU0P

09/07/2026

Today is Labor Day in the United States. Explore our collection of Labor Day poems reflecting on work, responsibility, and the end of summer.

Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.

09/05/2026

Youth Speaks is a national leader in spoken word performance, arts education, and creative youth development. Its comprehensive slate of arts education, public presentation, and youth-led cultural organizing programs provide young people with meaningful opportunities to be acknowledged.

Learn more about our grantee-partner: https://bit.ly/3UybhN3

09/04/2026

When I began thinking about how to represent poetry through letterforms, I wondered what might happen if I treated them as physical forms. Placing them within a real landscape allowed any imperfection to become part of the beauty, which I hope feels like a fitting reflection of poetry itself.

–Janet Hansen, September POETRY cover artist

Read the September issue: https://bit.ly/4zPk8d9