We have exciting news: MFA student Cydni Thompson has been named as one of the recipients of the Poetry Coalition’s 2025-26 Fellowship Program. She’ll be working at the Poetry Society of America as part of the program over the next year.

The Poetry Coalition, a national alliance of nearly thirty poetry organizations, selects nine aspiring literary leaders from thousands of applicants each year for paid fellowships and career development opportunities at esteemed national literary organizations. Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Beyond Baroque, Kundiman, Lambda Literary, Mizna, The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, Woodland Pattern, and Youth Speaks participate in this coalition, along with Poetry Society of America.

These fellows take part in poetry and community programming that reaches more than 30 million individuals annually. Getting to put their minds and voices to work on this scale ensures the vitality of the future of poetry and helps grow the next generation of nonprofit leadership.

The Academy of American Poets is a leading publisher of contemporary poetry across the United States. The organization annually awards $1.3+ million to more than two hundred poets at various stages of their careers through its prize program. It also produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; established and organizes National Poetry Month each April; publishes the Poem-a-Day series and American Poets magazine; provides free resources to educators; hosts an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and coordinates a national Poetry Coalition that promotes the value poets bring to our culture. To learn more about the Academy of American Poets, visit poets.org. 

Congratulations, Cydni!