National Poetry Month

April, as your English teachers may have told you, is National Poetry month.

I am not a fan of the one month a year celebration of literature--I think we should enjoy poetry all year long--but I think as long as it is April, and as long as most of the world flees before poetry as from large marine chondrichthyes and sweeping musical numbers in a Spielberg film, now is as good a time as any to start reading!

Here are some resources you can use to find poems, read about famous poets, or get help and inspiration for your own writing:

Poets.org From the American Academy of Poets. This is a great site for help reading, writing, understanding, or just enjoying poetry. They feature a poem-a-day and also have a poetry podcast. The site provides reviews that can introduce readers to outstanding new poets. It's a wonderful all-around resource.

Poetry Foundation The website of Poetry magazine, they feature archived issues of their journal, a poetry search engine to help you find something you're looking for (especially fun to use), audio podcasts, special events, and more.

Against National Poetry Month As Such An essay written by Charles Bernstein, author of My Way: Speeches and Poems. This is a humorous argument against pinning poetry appreciation down to one month. Bernstein paints a picture of a world with an anti-poetry month, "As part of the activities, all verse in public places will be covered over—from the Statue of Liberty to the friezes on many of our government buildings...Ministers in the Black churches will be kindly requested to stop preaching. Cats will be closed for the month by order of the Anti-Poetry Commission. Poetry readings will be replaced by self-help lectures." This guy is hilarious.

Poetry.com This site, though a bit chaotic in appearance, has a lot of references for poets, an ongoing poetry contest, and help marketing your work, if you're that serious!

Remember, as with all creative writing, the first step to becoming a better writer is to read as much as possible! The library has a fantastic poetry section and we'll be happy to help you find just what you're looking for.