The ruth weiss Foundation

11/16/2025

Join us Saturday, December 13th, for the 5th Annual ruth weiss Foundation Poetry Awards & Ceremony

In partnership with Caesura Publishers, we honor the legacy of legendary Beat poet ruth weiss and celebrate this year’s theme: Ekphrastic Poetry — a submission of poems inspired by visual art and the intersection of poetry and film.

This event is held at San Francisco’s Counterculture Museum in the heart of Haight-Ashbury. A historic venue, rooted in the spirit of artistic rebellion, provides a fitting stage to honor ruth weiss’s creative influence.

FREE RSVP EVENTBRITE LINK IN BIO

6:00PM-8:00PM | Saturday, 12.13.2025
| 1485 Haight St, San Francisco, CA

06/14/2024

Haiku Poetry Contest: A Tribute To Tradition And Innovation 👑

Enter the poetry contest now and win up to $1200.

All poets and aspiring poets are welcome. All haiku is accepted (not just the formal).

https://zealous.co/theruthweissfoundation/opportunity/Haiku-Poetry-Contest-A-Tribute-to-Tradition-and-Innovation

Best of luck,
The ruth weiss Foundation

06/04/2024

www.ruthweissfoundation.org

Welcome back poets!! We are here to announce that the 2024 annual grants are now open! The ruth weiss foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-proft organization whose mission is to create opportunities to support poetic artists through our annual grant program.

In 2024, the Foundation will be offering $6,000 in prizes that honor the craft of haiku poetry and illuminate the creativity of poets today. This is your invitation to explore the limitless possibilities of haiku, where each syllable is a brushstroke of your imagination, and every pause is a canvas for your creativity.

To apply, please submit to the link. Ensure that your haiku is original and has not been published before. We cannot wait to hear your work!

11/29/2023

Thankful to all who joined our event in honor of World Children's Day! Congratulations to all the Winners and Finalists. Thank you to our Committee, the United Nations Association Los Angeles Chapter, our panelists from the Beat Museum, UNICEF, and Loving Way Foundation, and everyone who helped make this event possible!

11/20/2023

11/20/2023

Thank you so much to all the committee members for all their hard work reading and deciding our Maverick, Emerging, and Youth Poet Finalists and Winners.

This year there were so many amazing poets who applied, as founders are hearts were drawn to many of them but at the end of the day it was the committee's decision.

This year we created a Founders Award of $200 to a poet who really touched our hearts Emi Yamashiro-Hergert, for her poem the insssomniac hive mind.

11/20/2023

We'd like to take a moment and give thanks to everyone involved in this year's poetry awards. And celebrate everyone who had the courage to write and submit their poems. We've had so many great ones and picking the winners was even harder. Thank you, everyone, for sharing your thoughts, and poems, and thank you for everyone that was with us for the in-person event.⁠
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Let's celebrate the winners of the 2023 edition:⁠
Ariel Zhang, Youth Poet Award Winner⁠
Asma Al-Masyabi, Emerging Poet Award Winner⁠
MK Chavez, Maverick Poet Award Winner.⁠
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Congratulations to everyone and may inspiration and creativity follow you everywhere you go. You all have wonderful stories to tell!⁠
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Until next year.⁠
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11/18/2023

Honored to have Poet Laureate Kim Shuck presenting the Maverick Poet Award to a lucky poet tomorrow!

San Francisco’s seventh Poet Laureate Kim Shuck, writer, educator, and textile artist whose work evokes the California Cherokee diaspora, drawing both from traditional and contemporary Southeastern Native American life. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, she has a unique viewpoint on cultural innovation and tradition and has taught at San Francisco State University alongside her independent work as a poet.

11/18/2023

We are honored to have Dawn McCoy hosting are panel discussion for "Mobilizing Change!" World Children’s Day: Poetry, Art, Film and Dialogue in partnership with the United Nations Association Los Angeles. Dawn is an NBC TV Host, Actor, Writer, Mother, Founder of Loving Way working on prevention and awareness about a child abuse in honor of her son, Waylon.

Dawn serves on the board of Holton’s Heroes, an organization that supports pediatric traumatic brain injury survivors and their families. She is also the Ambassador to No Kid Hungry and served on the James Beard Taste America Board. Her Dine & Dish with Dawn & Dawn’s Destinations food & travel segments can be seen on California Live on NBC as well as the Peacock streaming.

11/18/2023

Emi Yamashiro-Hergert finalist poem, “the insssomniac hive mind,” explores the power of creative self-expression as a means to escape the pressures of a conformist society. The poem highlights Emi’s desire to use the platform of poetry to advocate for causes that she is passionate about, such as mental health and human rights. Read her poem here: https://www.ruthweissfoundation.org/2023-awards/yamashiro-hergert

Join us Sunday, November 19th from 3 PM - 5:30 PM at James Bridges Theater in Los Angeles for an exciting event and see who wins the poetry award. RSVP here: https://www.ruthweissfoundation.org/
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