Two Minnesota poets picked to receive shares of $1.1 million in grants

Two Minnesota poets will launch projects with the help of $50,000 grants from the Academy of American Poets. Heid E. Erdrich, poet laureate of Minneapolis, and Jean Prokott, poet laureate of Rochester, are among 22 verse writers from throughout the country selected to receive $50,000 apiece to use to lead public projects.

Erdrich’s project is Poetry Service Announcement (PoeSA), which will put together a reading and a website that both spotlight poets who are Black, Indigenous and people of color, as well as youths, unhoused people, refugees and those with experience in the justice system. Erdrich, who is Ojibwe and enrolled in the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, is a two-time Minnesota Book Award winner whose seven collections include “Little Big Bully.”

Prokott will develop an exhibition of work by artists who identify as being affected by mental illness. Her project will explore the impact of mental illness on many communities, including young people, people of color and LGBTQ folks. A high school English teacher whose debut poetry collection is “The Second Longest Day of the Year,” Prokott also will display poetry on windows throughout Rochester and distribute information about mental health resources.