Three Ways to Participate in National Poetry Month, Even if You’re Not a Poet

Yes, yes, yes, April is National Poetry Month! If you’re a poet or a lover of poetry, this month is like being a kid in a candy store. Or a bookworm in a bookstore. Now in its 14th year, National Poetry Month is observed every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.

This is a special month for me because I am a poet myself. I’ve been writing since I was 15, then took some poetry workshops as an English major and fell in love with the craft. I don’t write it as much as I used to, so this month is a great way to set aside time to do that, in addition to reading the poetry of others.

If you love poetry like I love poetry, you should get into National Poetry Month in at least one of these three ways:

1. Sign up for the Poem-a-Day newsletter. Beginning April 1, Poets.org sends one new poem to your inbox each day to celebrate National Poetry Month. The poems have been selected from new books published in the spring.
2. Join the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo challenge to write at least one a poem a day in April for National Poetry Writing Month. If you stick with it all month long, you get the chance to have one of your poem published in an anthology!
3. Attend a poetry reading in your community. Support local poets who are creating and sharing their best work during the month of April. Check out the event listings for nearby coffeehouses, universities, and libraries!

P.S. You can follow MY NaPoWriMo journey on my Posterous page. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ll be writing (and posting) a poem a day during the entire month of April. And let me know if you’re going to do it, too so we can support each other! It’s tough to write something everyday, but very rewarding once you go back and read all of your poems at the end of the month.

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