National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and—of course—poets marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives every April.
Inspired by the successful celebrations of Black History Month (February) and Women's History Month (March), the Academy of American Poets established National Poetry Month in 1996. Along the way the organization enlisted a variety of government agencies and officials, educational leaders, publishers, sponsors, poets, and arts organizations to help. National Poetry Month is a registered trademark of the Academy of American Poets.
In coordination with poets, booksellers, librarians, and teachers, the Academy of American Poets chose a month when poetry could be celebrated with the highest level of participation. April seemed the best time within the year to turn attention toward the art of poetry, in an ultimate effort to encourage poetry readership year-round. Continue reading from The Academy of American Poets
Anyone asking that question starts looking for the problem instead of the solution. If we instead take the premise for granted, that poetry matters, we see poetry in new and exciting ways. Poetry matters because it can reveal truths and secrets, enable focus and problem-solving, inspire creativity and joy, and act as a catalyst for overcoming fears.
If we choose to see poetry all around us, we choose to see how each detail matters both at the micro and macro level. Given the right mindset and tools, we all have striking poetry waiting to paint a picture that has never yet existed in the world; that exquisite ability for newness and creativity does not require money, does not care about race, gender, or religion, ignores status and age and hair color and body shape.
Poetry matters because it provides doors and mirrors into the lives and perspectives of others; we get to live experiences that we will never have had otherwise. Through poetry, we are uniquely capable of living thousands of lives and moments in brief snippets of language that show how connected we really are. Continue reading from Medium
