Celebrate poetry!
April begins today and with it the start of a month long celebration of poetry. Since its inauguration by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, every April has been celebrated as National Poetry Month. Schools, libraries, publishers, booksellers, and, of course, poets, across the United States all come together to celebrate poetry in American culture. Readings, festivals, special book displays, workshops, and other events take place throughout the month.
“We hope to increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture while acknowledging and celebrating poetry’s ability to sustain itself in the many places where it is practiced and appreciated,” reads a statement on the Academy of American Poets’ website.
Interested in helping to celebrate poetry? Check out 30 ways to join the festivities this month from the Academy of American Poets. Suggestions include:
1) Read a book of poetry
2) Celebrate Poem-in-a-Pocket day
3) Put a poem on the pavement
4) Start a commonplace book – “Since the Renaissance, devoted readers have been copying their favorite poems and quotations into notebooks to form their own personal anthologies called commonplace books.”
5) Play exquisite corpse. “Each participant is unaware of what the others have written, thus producing a surprising–sometimes absurd–yet often beautiful poem.”
At Biblio.com, we add another way to celebrate National Poetry Month:
Add a poetry volume to your book collection.
Does your collection have nothing to do with poetry? Get creative about relating a book of poetry to the rest of your collection. You might find yourself exploring a new and fascinating avenue of your library.
Find Collectable Books of Poetry
Rare Finds are a special feature from Biblio and the wonderful writers at Fine Books & Collections. Visit their site to see more about the rare book trade.
I am new in discovering poetry so with that being said I would like for the readers of this request to recommend some poetry that will grasp my mind and bind it within the pages of the book.
Look up Pablo Neruda, Rumi, Walt Whitman…there’s enough there to keep you busy for a while. Enjoy!