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  "path": "/books/2026/06/05/national-literary-arts-fund-chicago-poetry-center-award-grant",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-05T10:30:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.wbez.org",
  "textContent": "<p>The Uptown-based Chicago Poetry Center is one of 40 literary arts organizations across the United States set to share $7.7 million in grant money intended to boost support for one of the nation’s most chronically underfunded art forms.</p><p>The poetry center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is a small literary arts organization with an annual budget of about $600,000. The center holds public poetry readings and runs educational programs across Chicago Public Schools.</p><p>“We had been thinking it was possible that we were going to have a reduced budget this next year,” said B. Metzger Sampson, the poetry center’s executive director. “But thanks to this Literary Arts Fund grant, along with a few others, we’re actually doing quite well. …”</p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center> <div class=\"Enhancement-item\" data-crop=\"\"> <figure class=\"Figure\"><a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-000000\" name=\"image-000000\"></a> <picture data-crop=\"medium\"> <source type=\"image/webp\" width=\"490\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c7c9c67/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x449+0+176/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd1%2F89%2Fc8eaebcf4f5bb1f1b729f69adc74%2Fb-metzger-sampson.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3b46014/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x449+0+176/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd1%2F89%2Fc8eaebcf4f5bb1f1b729f69adc74%2Fb-metzger-sampson.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\" /> <source width=\"490\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e9589ab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x449+0+176/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd1%2F89%2Fc8eaebcf4f5bb1f1b729f69adc74%2Fb-metzger-sampson.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" /> <img class=\"Image\" alt=\"B. Metzger Sampson.jpg\" srcset=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e9589ab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x449+0+176/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd1%2F89%2Fc8eaebcf4f5bb1f1b729f69adc74%2Fb-metzger-sampson.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ac2036c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x449+0+176/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd1%2F89%2Fc8eaebcf4f5bb1f1b729f69adc74%2Fb-metzger-sampson.jpg 2x\" width=\"490\" height=\"275\" src=\"https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e9589ab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x449+0+176/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fd1%2F89%2Fc8eaebcf4f5bb1f1b729f69adc74%2Fb-metzger-sampson.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" > </picture> <div class=\"Figure-content\"><figcaption class=\"Figure-caption\"><p>B. Metzger Sampson is the executive director of the Chicago Poetry Center. </p></figcaption><span class=\"line\"></span><div class=\"Figure-credit\"><p>Photo by Joshua Tatro </p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>The Literary Arts Fund, a collaboration between seven philanthropic organizations (including the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation), launched in 2025 to help support the literary arts.</p><p>The arts fund research found that literature is the least-funded artistic discipline in the United States, receiving approximately 2% of $5 billion in annual private foundation grants to the arts, according to 2023 data.</p><p>“This is a really, really critical time to receive a grant like this,” Sampson said, highlighting recent cuts from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.</p><p>The arts fund declined to disclose the exact amount of the grant heading to the poetry center, saying only that grants to the 40 recipients ranged from $40,000 to $500,000, with each spread over five years.</p><p>The money also comes without strings attached.</p><p>The poetry center is the only Chicago-based organization on the list of awardees, selected through a “competitive open call process, with applications reviewed by panels of writers from across the country representing diverse genres and perspectives,” according to the arts fund.<br></p>",
  "title": "National literary arts fund taps Chicago Poetry Center for multiyear award",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-05T10:30:02.186Z"
}