Poetry has long been a vessel for truth and resistance. Audre Lorde said it gives “names to the nameless.” W.B. Yeats called it a “quarrel with ourselves.” Gwendolyn Brooks described it as “life distilled.” Their words remind us that literature carries weight—and that we should listen.
As the Trump administration tightens control over federal arts funding, one literary organization refuses to back down. North Adams-based Tupelo Press, a nonprofit publisher founded in 1999, has reaffirmed its mission to support diverse voices, even as new National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) guidelines threaten funding for programs emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Tupelo Press: A Home for Marginalized Writers
Tupelo Press, located just minutes from the College, is known for publishing contemporary poetry, literary nonfiction, and works in translation. Founder Jeffrey Levine, a poet himself, has built the press on a foundation of inclusivity.
“We have always looked to provide a platform for marginalized communities,” Levine said. “We also pride ourselves on giving emerging writers a space to be heard.”
Despite the NEA’s Feb. 6 policy change restricting funding for diversity-focused initiatives, Tupelo issued a bold response just days later. On Feb. 9, the press announced it would not comply, reaffirming its commitment to supporting women, writers of color, LGBTQ+ voices, and Indigenous authors.
Poetry as Protest: “We Will Not Kowtow”
For Levine, literature and politics are inseparable. He believes suppressing artistic expression threatens fundamental rights.
“The administration is dismantling the Bill of Rights, telling us what we can publish and say about what we publish,” Levine said. “I don’t see why we—or any other press—should kowtow to that.”
Though Tupelo has relied on federal grants in the past, Levine says the press is now shifting toward private benefactors. While he remains optimistic about Tupelo’s survival, he fears other independent publishers may not withstand the financial strain.
“I don’t think this is a death knell for the literary world,” he said. “But it’s very, very sad. Many will not survive without grants. I think we will.”
A History of Literary Excellence
Tupelo Press has long been a launching pad for acclaimed authors. One of its early successes was Ilya Kaminsky’s Dancing in Odessa, discovered in 2003 by poet and Robert Frost Medal-winner Eleanor Wilner during a Tupelo contest. The book later won the Metcalf Prize and helped propel Kaminsky’s literary career, leading to his National Book Critics Circle Award finalist spot for Deaf Republic in 2019.
Other renowned Tupelo authors include Ruth Ellen Kocher, whose domina Un/blued won the PEN Open Book Award, and Maggie Smith, whose poem Good Bones became a viral sensation after Trump’s election.
The Future of Poetry in Tumultuous Times
Levine believes poetry gains strength in times of turmoil. “Every motion produces an equal and opposite motion,” he said. “I think there will be a growing interest in poetry as a form of resistance.”
For him, poetry is more than words on a page—it’s transformative. “The goal isn’t just to get a book into someone’s hands, but to change them through it. Then those ideas spread.”
Levine acknowledges the ongoing challenges in publishing but remains hopeful. “I believe things tend to get better in the long run. Maybe I’m foolish, but I have to believe that.”
Although poetry represents just a fraction of what is read in America, Levine sees its significance as undeniable. “Poets are cartographers of the soul, of our national ethos, of history,” he said.
And as long as there are voices to be heard, Tupelo Press will continue to amplify them.
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