6 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

Posted on April 19, 2018

by Jan C

Let’s count the ways you can celebrate National Poetry Month

1. Join us for a Poetry Event

Poetry Speaks : Spring 2019

Poetry Speaks - graphic image

Poetry Writing Workshops

Apr. 1 | Apr. 8 | Apr. 15 | Apr. 22 | Apr. 29 | May 13

*All programs take place on select Mondays, starting April 1, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the King Road Branch Library.

Experienced writers and novices alike are invited to participate in a Spring Writing Workshop.

Using prompts, exercises, group activities, and journaling, participants will explore their creative side. Two hours per session, high school and older welcomed. The series will culminate in a public reading.

The workshops are free. Registration required.


2. Find Poetic Inspiration

Check out These Poetry Books From the Library

For Adults

American journal : fifty poems for our time / selected and introduced by Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate of the United States
American sonnets for my past and future assassin / Terrance Hayes
Hard to be a saint in the city : the spiritual vision of the Beats / edited with an introduction by Robert Inchausti
The flame : poems, notebooks, lyrics, drawings / Leonard Cohen ; edited by Robert Faggen and Alexandra Pleshoyano
Voices in the air : poems for listeners by Naomi Shihab Nye
Extra hidden life, among the days by Brenda Hillman
The cataracts by Raymond McDaniel
All the bayou stories end with drowned : poems by Erica Wright
Planting gardens in graves by R.H. Sin
Brown : poems / Kevin Young

For Teens

Black girl magic : a poem by Mahogany L. Browne
Leave this song behind : teen poetry at its best / a teen ink book edited by Stephanie H. Meyer, John Meyer, Adam Halwitz and Cindy Spertner
For Teenage Girls With Wild Ambitions and Trembling Hearts by Clementine von Radics
To light a fire : 20 years with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project / edited by Terry Blackhawk & Peter Markus
For every one / Jason Reynolds

For Children

Bookjoy, wordjoy / poems by Pat Mora ; illustrations by Raúl Colón
The ghostly carousel : delightfully frightful poems / by Calef Brown
A bunch of punctuation / poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins ; illustrated by Serge Bloch
In the past / David Elliott ; illustrated by Matthew Trueman
A place to start a family : poems about creatures that build / David L. Harrison ; illustrated by Giles Laroche

3. Find Out What’s Hot in Poetry

50 Must-Read Poetry Collections of 2019

Must-Read Poetry: January 2019 – The Millions

PW’s Spring 2019 Announcements: Poetry

The 19 Best Poetry Books to Read This Year – Signature Reads

Five Essential Poetry Titles: Poetry Previews, April 2018 – Library Journal



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4. Read These Great Articles

Can Poetry Change Your Life? – The New Yorker

How to Read a Poem: A Poetry Primer for the Uninitiated – Poetry Foundation

Researchers Investigate What Makes a Poem Popular – Smithsonian

Understanding Poetry Is More Straightforward Than You Think – The New York Times Book Review

Why Teaching Poetry Is So Important – The Atlantic


5. Listen to These Podcasts

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Robert Pinsky: Essential American PoetsEssential American Poets series
Recordings of former poet laureate Robert Pinsky, with an introduction to his life and work.

A Change of World, Episode 1: The WildernessPoetry Off the Shelf series
The first episode in a special series on the women’s movement.

The Thin Man Goes HomePoetry Now series
Kit Robinson describes a walk home on a summer night as a cinematic experience.


6. Watch These Videos

Using simple, illuminative paper-cut puppetry, this enchanting video imagines the moment of witness that inspired Gwendolyn Brooks to write her landmark poem, “We Real Cool.”


Created in partnership with Motionpoems, this film adaptation of Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Famous” meditates on the human desire to be seen and the individualized ways in which we define recognition.


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Kevin Young, “Negative” from Most Way Home.


For more information about Poetry events taking place at the Library:

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