Pen Woman Awarded Academy of American Poets Grant

Georgia Popoff
Georgia Popoff

Poet Laureate Georgia Popoff, Central New York Branch vice president of programming, has been awarded the prestigious Academy of American Poets grant. Popoff was one of only 22 laureates from throughout the nation to be awarded the Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets, which includes up to $15,000 to implement a community-based program.

As current and first poet laureate of Onondaga County, Popoff has worked on setting up a model for future poet laureates. Her design was part of the reason she was awarded the Academy of Poets grant.

Popoff is a longtime instructor and programmer for the YMCA’s Downtown Writers Center. She recently proposed a collaboration with Professor Ricky Pak of the Syracuse University Drama Department to provide a 12- to 16-week intergenerational workshop, Voices in Verse. This pilot program will convene elders and youth to create poetry reflecting their lives, both shared experiences and personal memories, offered at no charge to participants.

Outreach, recruitment, and promotion of the workshops and performance designed by Popoff in collaboration with SU faculty will be shared on the CNY Arts community calendar, the Syracuse City School District, Onondaga County Public Library network of branches, the YMCA of Central NY’s Writers Voice, the Foster Grandparent Program, and the Arts and Cultural Leadership Alliance, a consortium of community arts organizations, among other outlets.

Voices in Verse is intended to provide a vital dialogue to deepen relationships and understanding spanning generations of experience and history. Another element of this pilot program brings poets who are experienced teaching artists together with university student assistants, providing experiential learning and mentorship for those students and additional income for both, as well as developing meaningful relationships with the participants.

At the culmination of the program in 2025, the performance will be free and open to the public. Additionally, the Academy of American Poets has agreed to contribute up to $10,000 to SU Drama Department to support its in-kind contribution to the program.