Poetry Foundation Boycott Lifted by Organizers
The boycott of the Poetry Foundation by more than 2,000 poets, editors, and writers that began last November over the organization's silence on the war in Gaza has been lifted, according to statements by the Poetry Foundation and boycott organizers.
In a statement entitled "A Commitment to Clarity," the Poetry Foundation said that the boycott "prompted us to examine and affirm our institutional values." It continued: "We maintain that it is not the role of the Poetry Foundation to make institutional statements about geopolitical crises. What we can do, however, is provide a platform for poets who are most impacted by and connected to those crises, and use the space we take up in the world of poetry accordingly."
In its own statement about lifting the boycott, organizers said, "We hope that, in doing so, this enables the community to effectively hold the Foundation accountable, while also leveraging the platform this institution offers. This is not to say that we expect the Foundation to be perfect moving forward, but that we believe it has a path forward that will ensure better accountability to the people it serves."
