Media Partnerships
Through a variety of collaborations, the Foundation invests in poetry programming to reach the American public across the full media spectrum. Over time, the Poetry Foundation aims to achieve a more robust presence for poetry-related stories in print, radio, television, film, and social media.
For more information or to sign up for our press releases, email [email protected].
Ours Poetica
Ours Poetica is an online video series, hosted on a dedicated YouTube channel, that captures the intimate experience of holding a poem in your hands and listening as it is read by a distinctive voice; Season Two is presented by the Poetry Foundation and Complexly. Ours Poetica features poets, writers, artists, and sometimes unexpected—yet familiar—guests who have an interest in poetry.
Subscribe and watch at YouTube.com/OursPoetica
The Slowdown
The Slowdown is a weekday poetry podcast hosted by award-winning poet Ada Limón; in a short episode each weekday, Limón delivers a poem and a moment of reflection, offering listeners a different way to see the world – through poetry.
Produced in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and American Public Media, new episodes of The Slowdown are available every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.
Past Partnerships
American Life in Poetry
American Life in Poetry was a free weekly column for newspapers, online publications, and individuals that featured contemporary American poems selected and introduced by Kwame Dawes and his predecessor, Ted Kooser. Nationally syndicated to millions of readers across the country each week for nearly 18 years, the column was funded by the Poetry Foundation with administrative support provided by the English Department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
PBS NewsHour
The Poetry Series, featured on the PBS NewsHour and funded by the Poetry Foundation, engages a broader audience with poetry through a series of thoughtful, in-depth reports on contemporary poets and poetry. The series includes short-form profiles of living American poets and long-form segments on current debates in poetry. Segments in the series have featured Washington, DC-area high school students as they prepare for and participate in the national poetry recitation contest, reports on the poetry of the Middle East and the business of publishing poetry, and profiles of poets, including Galway Kinnell, Lucille Clifton, John Ashbery, Li-Young Lee, Natasha Trethewey, and Naomi Shihab Nye.
Children’s Poetry Programming from HBO
The Poetry Foundation has partnered with HBO to produce two specials designed to introduce children to poetry through animation and song. Classical Baby (I’m Grown Up Now): The Poetry Show features the voice talents of Susan Sarandon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Wright, Andy Garcia, and John Lithgow. The show received an Emmy® for Outstanding Children’s Program in 2008. A Child’s Garden of Poetry features readings from Claire Danes, Carrie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ziggy Marley, Dave Matthews, Natalie Merchant, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Jeffrey Wright. The show received an Emmy® for Outstanding Children’s Program in 2011. Both shows are available on DVD.
National Public Radio and NPR.org
The Poetry Foundation’s support allows NPR to produce more stories about poetry on the radio and online and to create innovative features like “NewsPoet,” in which a poet is invited into the NPR All Things Considered newsroom to see how the show comes together and to write an original poem about the news. Featured poets include Tracy K. Smith, Craig Morgan Teicher, and Kevin Young.
New York Times Poetry Pairing
In the weekly “Poetry Pairing” series, the Poetry Foundation collaborates with The Learning Network of the New York Times to feature a poem from Poetry magazine or from the public domain alongside content from the Times that somehow echoes, extends, or challenges the poem’s themes.
PoetryNow
PoetryNow is a weekly four-minute radio series featuring some of today’s most accomplished and innovative poets who offer an acoustically rich and reflective look into a single poem. Produced in partnership by the Poetry Foundation and WFMT Radio Network.