Amy Lowell Traveling Scholarship
Amy Lowell was born in 1874 in Brookline, Massachusetts; she died in the same town when she was just 51. In 1926—the year after she died—she was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
She was in her thirties before she began to seriously write poetry, publishing her first book in 1912 and going on to publish many more books, edit anthologies, publish criticism, and promote and support contemporary as well as historical poets. Although she never attended college because her family considered a higher education to be improper for a lady, her family’s wealth allowed her to live as a socialite and to travel widely. She sometimes wrote sonnets; however, she was more of a champion (and writer) of free verse poetry.
I would not have known of Amy Lowell had I not learned about the provision she made in her estate plans for poets. Briefly, she believed that travel is beneficial to poets and to the creative process. To support poets long after her death, she created a traveling scholarship—awarded annually—to a poet who agrees to spend one year outside of the Continent of North America. The poet chosen to receive this scholarship can live wherever he/she wishes and, at the end of the year, is required to submit at least three poems to the committee that chooses the recipient. Originally, the poet was to receive $50,000 to support this endeavor; however, that amount is now approaching $70,000.
I have applied for this traveling scholarship several times, knowing that the odds are slim that I will be selected—but also knowing that the odds are zero if I do not apply. Each fall I faithfully gather 40 of my best poems, brush up my vita, fill out the cover page, and mail it all to the trustees of the Amy Lowel Estate. And then I begin to dream of where I would live for an entire year.
England. Absolutely England. Somewhere near water. Somewhere relatively close to London. A jumping off point to the Chunnel and other European points.
Nope. Ireland. Yes! Ireland! Dublin, where my ancestors once lived (although they also lived in London...decisions...decisions). The Irish with their pubs and brooding dark ways and cheerful, dancing moments.
Prague, Czech Republic! That’s the place where I pinned the collection of Holocaust poems I have been writing for a decade. What a wonderful place to sink into history, with the Charles Bridge and the Vlatava and the yellow fields and the Prague Castle and friends and good food.
But maybe I could stretch myself a little more and live in Germany—the launchpad of WWII. Or Spain. I’ve always wanted to see Spain.
From October until March, I dream and think and plan. And then the announcement is made of the Amy Lowell Traveling Scholarship winner, and I celebrate for that person...and begin to plot my submission for the following September.
Here’s a link to more information about this incredible, freeing poetry scholarship.
https://www.amylowell.org/
