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| Ricardo Alberto Maldonado | |
The Academy of American Poets has named Ricardo Alberto Maldonado as its next Executive Director and President. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Maldonado is poet and translator and the first Latino to lead the organization. He will officially start his new role on July 17.
Maldonado is currently the co-director of 92NY's Unterberg Poetry Center in NYC, where he has worked for 16 years, and he is the board chair of the Poetry Project. He is also on the board of the New York Foundation for the Arts as well as the poetry committee of the Brooklyn Book Festival. He has received fellowships from several foundations, including the NYFA and T.S. Eliot Foundation, and his poetry has been nominated for awards like the Poetry Society of America's Norma Farber First Book Award.
"We searched for a leader who was not merely seeking a job in poetry, but who was already fully invested in living out the vocation of poetry," said board chair Tess O'Dwyer, who went on to praise Maldonado's passion for and knowledge of poetry, as well as his leadership experience and project management skills. "The Board of Directors voted unanimously and enthusiastically to appoint Ricardo based on our belief that he will not only sustain the Academy’s marvelous array of poetry offerings but will also strengthen, expand, and deepen them in the years to come.”
Maldonado said: "I owe a debt of gratitude to the Academy of American Poets. Like the many millions of poets, educators, and readers across the world who have used its resources since 1934, I believe, to quote the Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton, ‘that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.’ As poetry becomes increasingly available and more vital to our national conversation, and as the Academy looks toward its ninetieth anniversary in 2024, I am honored to carry forward the organization’s mission of serving readers and supporting poets at all stages of their careers."
Founded 89 years ago, the Academy of American Poets publishes contemporary poetry and annually awards over $1.3 million to more than two hundred poets at various stages of their careers.