Young poets to benefit from $1.2 million gift to River North foundation

26-Jun-13 – Young poets will get “a more auspicious start to their careers” thanks to a $1.2 million gift to The Poetry Foundation, announced on Tuesday by the River North publisher of Poetry magazine.

The gift is from the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Fund, which has awarded prestigious prizes to young poets since 2004.

The Poetry Foundation will use the money to nearly double the amount it awards for a Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship, now just $15,000, which it has offered since 1989. It will now be called the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship. The first of the new fellowships will be awarded next year.

“Some of our most noted poets writing today are Lilly Fellowship recipients,” said foundation president John Barr in a news release, “who have benefited from being given the time to work and the confidence that this prize engenders.”

The Poetry Foundation was established in 2002 with a $200 million endowment from philanthropist Ruth Lilly (1915-2009). Lilly (left) was an amateur poet and also the great grand daughter of pharmaceutical magnate Eli Lilly. During her lifetime, she gave $800 million to the arts and charities.

Barr announced his retirement last year. Dr. Robert Polito will take over as new president of The Poetry Foundation on July 8.

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