$100 Million Buys A Lot Of Verse

Two years after a $100 million bequest fell unexpectedly into its lap, the formerly tiny and obscure Poetry Foundation has revealed just what it plans to do with the money. The group is planning “a host of projects, from a national recitation contest for high school students to ‘the biggest and baddest Web site for poetry out there.’ The projects are likely to comprise the most sweeping effort to promote poetry in the history of the United States or any other country. They may also make the Poetry Foundation a major force on the American cultural landscape.”