Dear Poet Project 2019

For National Poetry Month 2019, we presented Dear Poet, a multimedia education project inviting young people in grades five through twelve to write letters in response to poems written and read by some of the award-winning poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors. We also worked with a curriculum specialist to design a related lesson plan aligned with the Common Core.

Students participated in this year’s Dear Poet project by watching the videos below of Chancellors reading and discussing one of their poems. Then, students wrote letters in response and sent them by post or email to the Academy of American Poets. We considered all letters for publication on Poets.org in 2019, and our Chancellors replied to select letters of their choosing.

Dear Poet Letters 2019

We’re pleased to share that in 2019, we received over 1,800 letters from students in seventy-six schools, two-thirds of which are public. These students hail from rural, suburban, and urban areas in twenty-eight states, U.S. territories, and countries.

We shared these letters with our Chancellors, who replied to many of them individually. Several Chancellors also wrote letters addressed to the hundreds of students who wrote in. Ellen Bass writes, “It’s been said that a poem begins with the writer and ends with the reader. Your letters make me feel like this poem has now made its full cycle. I’m gratified that it’s touched a place in your hearts, your imaginations, your lives.”

Read letters to Ellen Bass and her responses.

Read letters to Linda Gregerson and her responses.

Read letters to Brenda Hillman and her responses.

Read letters to Alberto Ríos and his responses.

Read letters to Marilyn Chin and her responses.

Read letters to Alicia Ostriker and her responses.

Read letters to Forrest Gander and his responses.

Read letters to Elizabeth Alexander.

Elizabeth Alexander Reads "The Dream That I Told My Mother-in-Law"

Ellen Bass Reads "Lost Dog"

Marilyn Chin Reads "Blues on Yellow"

Note: Because of its subject matter, this poem is more appropriate for high school students.

Forrest Gander Reads "Kata: Bus Stop"

Linda Gregerson Reads "Line Drive Caught by the Grace of God"

Brenda Hillman Reads "The Letters Learn to Breathe Twice"

Alicia Ostriker Reads "Move"

Alberto Ríos Reads “A House Called Tomorrow"

Thank You to Our Sponsors

The Academy of American Poets thanks Barnes & Noble, the Poetry Foundation, and the other organizations that help make Dear Poet possible.