The Ingram Merrill Foundation was a private foundation established in the mid-1950s by poet

James Merrill James Ingram Merrill (March 3, 1926 – February 6, 1995) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for '' Divine Comedies.'' His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyri ...

(1926-1995), using funds from his substantial family inheritance.J. D. McClatchy
Braving the Elements
''The New Yorker'', 27 March 1995. Retrieved 27 May 2013. Over the course of four decades, the foundation would provide financial support to hundreds of writers and artists, many of them in the early stages of promising but not yet remunerative careers. Dissolved in 1996 (a year after Merrill's death), the Ingram Merrill Foundation was at that point disbursing approximately $300,000 a year.Swansburg, John

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, 28 January 2001. " the 1950s he established the Ingram Merrill Foundation, which until it ceased to exist in 1996, gave grants to writers, artists and other foundations. By the mid-90s, Merrill was donating around $300,000 a year through the foundation." Retrieved 27 May 2013. Support from the Ingram Merrill Foundation could be variously described as an "Award", a "Fellowship", a "Prize", or a "Grant". Recipients themselves often used these terms interchangeably, and it is unclear whether there was ever a meaningful distinction between them reflecting the degree or amount of financial support (stipends could vary widely among Ingram Merrill recipients). By reapplying, it was possible to win an Award more than once in a career; at least one writer received three separate grants, and

The Little Players The Little Players were a repertory puppet troupe that performed in New York City from 1952 to the early 1980s, producing ballets, operas, and plays. The company consisted of five puppet characters; a single puppeteer, Francis J. Peschka; and W. G ...

puppet troupe was subsidized largely by the foundation for over twenty years.Hammer, Langdon. ''James Merrill: Life and Art.'' New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. 491. Although Merrill could lobby his own Board—not always with success—on behalf of writers and artists whose work and circumstances he felt particularly compelling, his interference in the grant-giving process was officially discouraged. This was by Merrill's own design: a measure of formal disengagement from his namesake foundation helped immunize him from " the friends of the friends" who might feel tempted to "put in a good word with Jimmy" on a pending application. In the event, Merrill could truthfully reply that decisions were out of his hands. The Foundation supported specific public television programming in the early 1970s and gave occasional grants to arts organizations.

Recipients

Visual artists known to have received Ingram Merrill Foundation financial support include Edward Dugmore,

Yvonne Jacquette Yvonne Helene Jacquette (December 15, 1934 – April 23, 2023) was an American painter, printmaker, and educator. She was known in particular for her depictions of aerial landscapes, especially her low-altitude and oblique aerial views of cities ...

, Gabriel Laderman,

Eric Pankey Eric Pankey (born 1959 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American poet and artist. He is married to the poet Jennifer Atkinson (born 1955). Pankey's poetry has moved from the literal and narrative as in _Heartwood,_ towards the suggestiveness of ...

, Patrick Webb, Jane Wilson, and Marcia Marcus.

Max Kozloff Maxwell Kozloff (June 21, 1933 – April 6, 2025) was an American art historian, art critic of modern art, and photographer. He was art editor at ''The Nation'', and executive editor of ''Artforum''. His essay ''American Painting During the Cold ...

, a noted art historian, editor, and art critic, received an award.

Jean Erdman Jean Erdman (February 20, 1916 – May 4, 2020) was an American dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director, and the wife of Joseph Campbell. Biography Early years and background Erdman was born in Honol ...

, a dancer and choreographer, also received funding. Composers known to have received Ingram Merrill funding include Bruce Saylor,

Claudio Spies Carlos Claudio Spies (March 26, 1925 – April 2, 2020) was a Chilean American composer. Biography Early life Born in Santiago, Chile, of German Jewish parents, Spies completed primary and secondary education in Santiago in 1941, when he p ...

, and

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (, ; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He also performed as a pianist and conductor. Wuorinen composed more than 270 works: orchestral music, c ...

. Writers (including essayists, novelists, short story writers, translators, poets, and playwrights, among others) known to have received Ingram Merrill support include Walter Abish, Ellen Akins, Agha Shahid Ali,

Dick Allen Richard Anthony Allen (March 8, 1942 – December 7, 2020), nicknamed "Crash" and "the Wampum Walloper", was an American professional baseball player. During his 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played as a first baseman and thir ...

Julia Alvarez Julia Alvarez (born March 27, 1950) is an American New Formalist poet, novelist, and essayist. She rose to prominence with the novels '' How the García Girls Lost Their Accents'' (1991), ''In the Time of the Butterflies'' (1994), and ''Yo! ...

, John Ash,

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

Russell Banks Russell Earl Banks (March 28, 1940 – January 8, 2023) was an American writer of fiction and poetry. His novels are known for "detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters". He drew from ...

, Wendy Battin,

Gina Berriault Gina Berriault (January 1, 1926 – July 15, 1999) was an American novelist and short story writer. Biography Berriault was born in Long Beach, California, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. Her father was a freelance writer and Berriault took h ...

, Linda Bierds,

Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Awar ...

, Thomas Bolt, David Bosworth,

David Bottoms David Bottoms (September 11, 1949 – March 2023) was an American poet, novelist, and academic. He was Poet Laureate of Georgia from 2000 to 2012. Biography Bottoms' first book, ''Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump'', was selected by Robert ...

Jane Bowles Jane Bowles (; born Jane Sydney Auer; February 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973) was an American writer and playwright. Early life Born into a Jewish family in New York City on February 22, 1917, to Sydney Auer (father) and Claire Stajer (mother), Jan ...

Rosellen Brown Rosellen Brown (born May 12, 1939) is an American author, and has been an instructor of English and creative writing at several universities, including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Houston. The 1996 film ''Bef ...

Victor Bumbalo Victor Bumbalo (born November 30, 1948) is an American actor and playwright. Early life and education Bumbalo graduated from the Masters Program in Theater at Bennington College. In New York City, Bumbalo became immersed in the Off- and Off-Off ...

, Frederick Busch,

Ethan Canin Ethan Andrew Canin (born July 19, 1960) is an American author, educator, and physician. He is a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. Canin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while his parents were vacatio ...

Turner Cassity Allen Turner Cassity (January 12, 1929 in Jackson, Mississippi – July 26, 2009 in Atlanta) was an American poet, playwright, and short story writer. Life He was the son of Dorothy and Allen Cassity, and grew up in Jackson and Forest, Mississipp ...

Henri Cole Henri Cole (born May 9, 1956) is an American poet, who has published many collections of poetry and a memoir. His books have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Arabic. Biography Henri Cole was born in Fukuoka, Japan, to a ...

, Martha Collins, Jane Cooper, John Crowley, Deborah Digges,

W. S. Di Piero William Simone Di Piero is an American poet, translator, essayist, and educator. He has published ten collections of poetry and five collections of essays in addition to his translations. In 2012 Di Piero received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for ...

Mark Doty Mark Doty (born August 10, 1953) is an American poet and memoirist best known for his work ''My Alexandria.'' He was the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. Early life Mark Doty was born in Maryville, Tennessee, to Lawrence ...

Norman Dubie Norman Dubie (April 10, 1945--February 20, 2023) was an American poet from Barre, Vermont. Life He was the author of twenty-eight collections of poetry. Dubie's work often assumes historical personae and has been included in ''The New Yorker'', ' ...

Deborah Eisenberg Deborah Eisenberg (born November 20, 1945) is an American short story writer, actress and teacher. She is a professor of writing at Columbia University. Early life Eisenberg was born in Winnetka, Illinois. Her family is Jewish. She grew up in su ...

Tony Eprile Tony Eprile is a South African and American writer. His 2004 novel, ''The Persistence of Memory'', won the Koret Jewish Book Award in 2005, beating out ''The Plot Against America'' by Philip Roth. Early life Tony Eprile was born in Hillbrow, Joh ...

, Kathy Fagan, Irving Feldman,

Donald Finkel Donald Alexander Finkel (October 21, 1929 – November 15, 2008) was an American poet best known for his unorthodox styles and "curious juxtapositions". Life Finkel was born in New York City on October 21, 1929. He grew up in the Bronx, and aspi ...

Alice Fulton Alice Fulton (born 1952) is an American author of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Fulton is the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English Emerita at Cornell University. Her awards include the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, ...

, James Galvin,

Jorie Graham Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at H ...

Debora Greger Debora Greger (born 1949) is an American poet as well as a visual artist. She was raised in Richland, Washington. She attended the University of Washington and then the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She then went on to hold fellowships at the Fine Art ...

Allan Gurganus Allan Gurganus is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose work, which includes ''Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All'' and '' Local Souls'', is often influenced by and set in his native North Carolina. Biography Gurgan ...

Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...

Rachel Hadas Rachel Hadas (born November 8, 1948) is an American poet, teacher, essayist, and translator. Her most recent essay collection is ''Piece by Piece: Selected Prose'' (Paul Dry Books, 2021), and her most recent poetry collection is ''Ghost Guest'' (Ra ...

John Haines John Meade Haines (June 29, 1924 – March 2, 2011) was an American poet and educator who had served as the poet laureate of Alaska. Published in 2024, the book May the Owl Call Again, A Return to Poet John Meade Haines, 1924-2011 focuses on the ...

, Daniel Hall, Judith Hall, Jeffrey Harrison, Shelby Hearon, Oscar Hijuelos,

Geoffrey Hill Sir Geoffrey William Hill, Royal_Society_of_Literature#Fellowship, FRSL (18 June 1932 – 30 June 2016) was an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston Uni ...

Daryl Hine William Daryl Hine (February 24, 1936 – August 20, 2012) was a Canadian poet and translator. A MacArthur Fellow for the class of 1986, Hine was the editor of ''Poetry'' from 1968 to 1978. He graduated from McGill University in 1958 and then st ...

David Hinton David Hinton is an American poet and translator who specializes in Chinese literature and poetry. Life He studied Chinese at Cornell University, and in Taiwan. He lives in Calais, Vermont, East Calais, Vermont. Awards * 1997 Academy of American ...

Edward Hirsch Edward M. Hirsch (born January 20, 1950) is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published nine books of poems, including ''The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems'' (2010), which brings toget ...

Daniel Hoffman Daniel Gerard Hoffman (April 3, 1923 – March 30, 2013) was an American poet, essayist, and academic. He was appointed the twenty-second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1973. Early life and education Hoffman wa ...

A. D. Hope Alec Derwent Hope (21 July 190713 July 2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic. He was referred to in an American journal as "the 20th century's greatest 18th-century ...

Maureen Howard Maureen Theresa Howard ( Kearns; June 28, 1930 – March 13, 2022) was an American novelist, memoirist, and editor. Her award-winning novels feature women protagonists and are known for formal innovation and a focus on the Irish-American experie ...

Andrew Hudgins Andrew Hudgins (born 22 April 1951 Killeen, Texas) is an American poet. Biography Hudgins was raised in Alabama. He earned a B.A. at Huntingdon College, an M.A. at the University of Alabama, and an M.F.A. at the University of Iowa. He is the auth ...

Wojciech Karpiński Wojciech Karpiński (11 May 1943 – 18 August 2020) was a Polish writer, historian of ideas and literary critic. Life Wojciech Karpiński was born on 11 May 1943 in Warsaw, the son of the architect Zbigniew Karpiński and a grandson of ...

Galway Kinnell Galway Mills Kinnell (February 1, 1927 – October 28, 2014) was an American poet. His dark poetry emphasized scenes and experiences in threatening, ego-less natural environments. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1982 collection, ''Se ...

Karl Kirchwey Karl Kirchwey (born February 25, 1956) is an American poet, essayist, translator, critic, teacher, arts administrator, and literary curator. His career has taken place both inside and outside of academia. He is Professor of English and Creative ...

, Peter Klappert, Caroline Knox,

Ann Lauterbach Ann Lauterbach (born 1942) is an American poet, essayist, art critic, and professor. Early life Lauterbach was born and raised in New York City, and earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin. She lived in London for eight years, working ...

David Lehman David Lehman (born June 11, 1948) is an American poet, non-fiction writer, and literary critic, and the founder and series editor for '' The Best American Poetry''. He was a writer and freelance journalist for fifteen years, writing for such pub ...

Brad Leithauser Brad E. Leithauser (born February 27, 1953) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and teacher. After serving as the Emily Dickinson Lecturer in the Humanities at Mount Holyoke College and visiting professor at the MFA Program for Poets & W ...

Phillis Levin Phillis Levin (born 1954 Paterson, New Jersey) is an American poet. Life Levin is the daughter of Charlotte E. Levin and Herbert L. Levin of Yardley, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1976, and Johns Hopkins University i ...

, Elizabeth Macklin,

Thomas Mallon Thomas Mallon (born November 2, 1951) is an American novelist, essayist, and critic. His novels are renowned for their attention to historical detail and context and for the author's crisp wit and interest in the "bystanders" to larger historic ...

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...

, Mary McCarthy, J. D. McClatchy, Joseph McElroy, Lynne McMahon, Sandra McPherson, Christopher Merrill,

Judith Moffett Judith Moffett (born 1942) is an American author and academic. She has published poetry, non-fiction, science fiction, and translations of Swedish literature. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts an ...

, Ted Mooney, Julian Moynahan,

Carol Muske-Dukes Carol Muske-Dukes (born 1945 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and professor, and the former poet laureate of California (2008–2011). Her most recent book of poetry, ''Sparrow'' (Random House, 2003), chr ...

, Josip Novakovich,

Jacqueline Osherow Jacqueline Osherow (born 1956) is an American poet, and Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah. Biography Raised in Philadelphia, Jacqueline Osherow graduated from Radcliffe College with a BA ''magna cum laude'', and from Princeton Uni ...

Molly Peacock Molly Peacock (born Buffalo, New York 1947) is an American-Canadian poet, essayist, biographer and speaker, whose multi-genre work includes memoir, short fiction, and a one-woman show. Career Peacock's latest book is ''Flower Diary: Mary Hies ...

, Walter Perrie,

Robert Polito Robert Polito is a poet, biographer, essayist, critic, educator, curator, and arts administrator. He received the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography in 1995 for ''Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson.'' The founding director of th ...

Stanley Plumly Stanley Plumly (May 23, 1939 – April 11, 2019) was an American poet and the director of University of Maryland, College Park's creative writing program. Biography Plumly was born in Barnesville, Ohio in a working class family with a farmla ...

Jeremy Reed Jeremy Thomas Reed (born June 15, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers. He was the hitt ...

Donald Revell Donald Revell (born 1954 in Bronx, New York) is an American poet, essayist, translator and professor. Revell has won numerous honors and awards for his work, beginning with his first book, ''From the Abandoned Cities'', which was a National Poetr ...

, Michael J. Rosen,

Mark Rudman Mark Rudman (born 1948 New York City) is an American poet. He is a former professor at Columbia University and New York University. He graduated from The New School with a BA, and from Columbia University with an MFA. His work has appeared in ''S ...

Kay Ryan Kay Ryan (born September 21, 1945) is an American poet and educator. She has published seven volumes of poetry and an anthology of selected and new poems. From 2008 to 2010 she was the sixteenth United States Poet Laureate. In 2011 she was named ...

, David St. John,

Mary Jo Salter Mary Jo Salter (born August 15, 1954) is an American poet, a co-editor of The '' Norton Anthology of Poetry'' and a professor in the Writing Seminars program at Johns Hopkins University. Life Salter was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was ...

, Stephen Sandy,

Sherod Santos Sherod Santos (born September 9, 1948 in South Carolina) is an American poet, essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (mes ...

, James Scully, David Shapiro,

Robert Siegel Robert Charles Siegel (born June 26, 1947) is an American retired radio journalist. He was one of the co-hosts of the National Public Radio afternoon news broadcast ''All Things Considered'' from 1987 until his retirement in January 2018. Ear ...

Charles Simic Dušan Simić ( sr-cyr, Душан Симић, ; May 9, 1938 – January 9, 2023), known as Charles Simic, was a Serbian American poet and poetry co-editor of ''The Paris Review''. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for '' The W ...

, Jeffrey Skinner,

William Jay Smith William Jay Smith (April 22, 1918 – August 18, 2015) was an American poet. He was appointed the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970. Life William Jay Smith was born in Winnfield, Louisi ...

, W. D. Snodgrass,

Roberta Spear Roberta Spear (Sept 26, 1948 in Hanford, California – April 3, 2003) was an American poet. Life Robertal Spear was born Sept 26, 1948 in Hanford California. She spent her early years in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of Califor ...

Mark Strand Mark Strand (April 11, 1934 – November 29, 2014) was a Canadian-born American poet, essayist and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990 and received the Wallace Stevens Award in 2004 ...

, Christopher Tilghman,

Tony Towle Tony Towle (born 1939) is an American poet. He began writing poetry in 1960. John Ashbery has referred to him as "one of the New York School's best-kept secrets." Personal life Towle currently lives in New York City with actress Diane Tyler. He h ...

, Paul Violi,

Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

, Theodore Weiss, Rachel Wetzsteon,

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (January 13, 1940 – June 3, 2025) was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with ra ...

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

, Charles Wright,

John Yau John Yau (born June 5, 1950) is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978. He has published over 50 books of poetry, artists' books, ficti ...

and Stephen Yenser, among others.

References

{{reflist Arts foundations based in the United States Organizations disestablished in 1996 Merrill family