Poetry Society of America
A U.S. literary organization founded in 1910 to support poets, poetry, awards, publications, and public programs.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
The Poetry Society of America is a nonprofit literary organization devoted to advancing poetry and supporting poets in the United States. Founded in 1910, it is described as the oldest poetry organization in the country. Its early membership and activity connected poets, editors, artists, and literary patrons through meetings intended to provide a national forum for reading, discussion, and exchange rather than merely a private social club. The organization emerged from New York’s literary and artistic culture. Its first official meeting was held at the National Arts Club in Manhattan. Jessie Belle Rittenhouse, a founding member and secretary, later recalled that the initial concept was influenced by the salon tradition but argued that the society should develop on national lines and meet in a public setting. During its first years, the organization attracted figures including Amy Lowell, Ezra Pound, and W. B. Yeats. Later members and associates included Witter Bynner, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore, and Wallace Stevens, illustrating the society’s long relationship with major strands of American poetry. The Poetry Society of America’s work combines recognition, publishing support, education, and public access. It began presenting awards in 1915, creating a continuing program that recognizes emerging and established poets for achievement, innovation, lyric craft, first books, student work, humanitarian themes, and other forms of poetic accomplishment. Its best-known honors include the Frost Medal, awarded for distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry; the Shelley Memorial Award, presented to a poet living in the United States on the basis of artistic distinction and need; and the Four Quartets Prize, established in partnership with the T. S. Eliot Foundation for a unified sequence of poems published in the United States. The society also administers a broad group of memorial and category-specific awards. The organization has additionally supported poets early in their careers through the PSA Chapbook Fellowship, launched in 2003. The fellowship provides selected poets who have not yet published a full-length collection with editorial and design assistance, publication, distribution, and a public reading. The program has helped publish work by more than eighty poets, including writers who subsequently received significant literary recognition or academic appointments. The society has also influenced the broader cultural infrastructure around poetry. In 1917, member Edward J. Wheeler petitioned Columbia University’s president to create a Pulitzer category for poetry. When the university initially lacked funds for such an award, Wheeler secured financial support on behalf of the society from a New York art patron. The Poetry Society continued that support until Columbia University and the Pulitzer Board regularized the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1922. One of the organization’s most visible public initiatives is Poetry in Motion, launched in 1992 with New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The program placed poems in subway cars and buses, bringing contemporary poetry into everyday public transit. It later expanded to transit systems in more than twenty U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Portland, and Salt Lake City. The initiative received design and civic recognition and generated several anthologies. Through awards, fellowships, publications, readings, partnerships, and public installations, the Poetry Society of America functions as a national platform for the creation, circulation, and appreciation of poetry.
History
The Poetry Society of America was established in 1910 by a group of poets, editors, artists, and literary supporters. Its first official meeting took place at the National Arts Club in Manhattan. Jessie Belle Rittenhouse, who became a founding member and secretary, documented the society’s origins in her autobiography. Her account distinguishes the organization from a conventional private salon: although the initial idea drew on gatherings in which poets would read and discuss one another’s work, she argued that the society should operate on national lines and meet in a public institution. The new organization quickly became part of the broader literary network surrounding New York. During its early years, poets such as Amy Lowell, Ezra Pound, and W. B. Yeats attended meetings. Across its history, the society’s membership and community have included influential American poets such as Witter Bynner, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore, and Wallace Stevens. This history gives the society a distinctive role as both a membership organization and a meeting point for different generations, movements, and approaches to poetry. In 1915, the society began conferring awards intended to recognize innovation and mastery of poetic form. Its awards program later developed into a broad portfolio. The Frost Medal was inaugurated in 1930 and first presented to Jessie Belle Rittenhouse, with awards also made in memory of Bliss Carman and George Edward Woodberry. For decades it was given intermittently to poets near the end of their careers; since 1984 it has been awarded annually to a living poet for distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry. Since 1995, the recipient has also delivered the Frost Medal Lecture. Robert Frost received the medal in 1941. The Shelley Memorial Award has been presented annually since 1930 except for 1933. It recognizes a poet living in the United States on the combined grounds of poetic distinction and financial need. The society’s other honors cover a wide range of forms and career stages, including first books, lyric poetry, student writing, humanitarian themes, experimental or original use of language, mid-career achievement, and manuscripts in progress. The society also played a role in the formation of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Following the first Pulitzer awards in 1917, society member Edward J. Wheeler asked Columbia University’s president to add poetry as an award category. When he learned that no funds had been allocated for such a prize, Wheeler obtained $500 from a New York art patron on behalf of the society. The Poetry Society continued to support the effort until Columbia University and the Pulitzer Board voted in 1922 to establish the poetry award on a regular basis. A major later development was Poetry in Motion, created in 1992 with New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The project placed poems in subway cars and buses, making literary work part of the daily commute. It subsequently reached transit systems in more than twenty cities across the United States. The program received design and civic honors, including a Design for Transportation Merit Award, a New York Municipal Society Certificate of Merit, and a 2000 New York City Council proclamation. Its reach was extended through anthologies published in 1996, 2002, and 2017. In 2003, the society established the PSA Chapbook Fellowship. The annual competition supports poets who have not yet published a full-length collection. Fellows receive assistance with editing and design, publication and distribution of a chapbook, and a public reading. The program has published the work of more than eighty poets, many of whom later gained literary awards or academic appointments. In 2018, the society and the T. S. Eliot Foundation introduced the Four Quartets Prize for a complete and unified sequence of poems published in the United States. Together with its longstanding awards, fellowships, readings, publications, and public programs, this initiative reflects the society’s continuing model: supporting poets directly while creating wider opportunities for poetry to be encountered by the public.
- 2018
Four Quartets Prize launched
[1]The society and the T. S. Eliot Foundation introduced a prize for unified sequences of poems.
- 2003
PSA Chapbook Fellowship launched
[1]The society began its annual fellowship for poets who had not published a full-length collection.
- 1992
Poetry in Motion launched
[1]The society and New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority began displaying poems in subway cars and buses.
- 1984
Frost Medal becomes an annual award
[1]The Frost Medal became an annual honor for a living poet’s distinguished lifetime achievement.
- 1930
Frost Medal and Shelley Memorial Award established
[1]The society inaugurated the Frost Medal and began the annual Shelley Memorial Award, with the exception of 1933 for the latter.
- 1922
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry regularized
[1]Columbia University and the Pulitzer Board voted to make the poetry award a regular category after the society’s support.
- 1917
Society supports creation of a Pulitzer poetry award
[1]Edward J. Wheeler petitioned Columbia University to establish a poetry category and secured funding on behalf of the society.
- 1915
Awards program begins
[1]The society began presenting awards recognizing innovation and achievement in poetry.
- 1910
Society founded
[1]The Poetry Society of America held its first official meeting at the National Arts Club in Manhattan.
Products and positioning
A longstanding national literary institution that combines poet recognition, career support, publishing, public programming, and advocacy for poetry in American cultural life.
Poetry award · 1930
Frost Medal
The Frost Medal recognizes distinguished lifetime achievement in American poetry. Created in 1930, it became an annual award for a living poet in 1984. Since 1995, recipients have also delivered the Frost Medal Lecture.
Poetry award · 1930
Shelley Memorial Award
An annual award for a poet living in the United States, selected on the basis of poetic distinction and need. It has been presented annually since 1930 apart from 1933.
Poetry award · 2018
Four Quartets Prize
A prize for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in the United States in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book. It is presented in partnership with the T. S. Eliot Foundation.
Fellowship and publication program · 2003
PSA Chapbook Fellowship
An annual program for poets who have not yet published a full-length poetry collection. Fellowships provide editorial and design assistance, publication, distribution, and a public reading.
Public poetry program · 1992
Poetry in Motion
A public-art and literary initiative that places poems in subway cars and buses. Launched with New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it later expanded to transit systems in more than twenty U.S. cities and produced several anthologies.
Marketing campaigns
- 2003PSA Chapbook Fellowship
United States
The society created an annual fellowship to help emerging poets without full-length collections publish and present their work.
Outcome. The program has published work by more than eighty poets and provided editorial, design, distribution, and reading support.
- 1992Poetry in Motion
United States
The society partnered with New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to display poems in subway cars and buses, bringing poetry into a routine public setting.
Outcome. The initiative expanded to transit systems in more than twenty cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Portland, and Salt Lake City. It also received design and civic recognition and led to three anthologies.
Brand decisions
1917
Support the establishment of a Pulitzer Prize for PoetryOtherBackground
The society sought to have poetry included among the Pulitzer awards after the first prizes were presented.
Action taken
Edward J. Wheeler petitioned Columbia University and secured $500 from a New York art patron on behalf of the society when no poetry-prize funds had been allocated.
Aftermath
The society continued its support until Columbia University and the Pulitzer Board regularized the poetry prize in 1922.
Sources2 sources
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