Tree Swenson (born 1951) is currently the President/Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. Throughout her life, she has been deeply involved with poetry and independent publishing.
Holly Swenson was born in Utah and grew up in Montana. As a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara in the late 1960s, she began using the nickname "Tree" and became involved in the West Coast poetry scene.
Swenson met poet Sam Hamill at UCSB and, in 1972, they formed Copper Canyon Press, an independent press based in Port Townsend, Washington that is dedicated to publishing poetry.[1] Swenson was the Publisher and Executive Director of Copper Canyon Press for twenty years and helped publish the work of hundreds of poets, including Nobel Prize winners Pablo Neruda and Vicente Aleixandre and Pulitzer Prize winner, W.S. Merwin[2]
In 1992, Swenson left Copper Canyon Press, moved to Boston and became Director of Programs for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Ms. Swenson became Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets in April, 2002 succeeding William Wadsworth.[3]