Happy National Poetry Month!

Sage CohenThe life poetic4 Comments

There’s no better time than April to wet your poetic whistle. It’s National Poetry Month, and around the world and the web, there are endless events, communities and opportunities where you can connect, write, and steep in poetic possibilities. I’d like to tell you about a few.

To jump-start your poetic process, consider participating in a poem-a-day challenge. Get a daily poetry prompt and join a community of poets facilitated by these amazing people:

If you’re not already subscribed to the Writing the Life Poetic zine––a free, bi-monthly publication that I publish, edit and send right to your email––I encourage you to do so now. You’ll get a wide range of information and inspiration about the life poetic from 10 columnists who are some of my favorite poets and people. You can subscribe right here in the right hand column, or learn more about the zine and view some archives first.

Want a deeper dive into the life poetic? April would be a great time to buy, borrow or return to your copy of Writing the Life Poetic, where you’ll find tips, insights, prompts, craft guidance and quick essays about the possibilities of poetry in your ordinary, just-right-for-poetry life.

Another book I don’t think you can live without: Kim Rosen’s Saved by a Poem. This book has deepened, widened and broken open my heart to a new capacity for holding and receiving the spoken poem. Read it, please. You will be so grateful that you did.

Want to read poetry books and discuss them online throughout the month? Check out Dave Bonta’s Poetry Month Book Club.

The Academy of American poets has all kinds of fun happening throughout April. If you want more ideas about how to infuse your month with poetry, check out their recommended 30 ways to celebrate poetry.

Experiencing poetry in a poet’s own voice is such a powerful way to receive the gifts a poem has to offer. Following are three great resources for listening to poetry online:

And if you’d like each day infused with a single poem, why not consider signing up to receive a daily poem by e-mail from The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor? It’s free, it’s easy, and it sure is delightful to have poems chosen for you and delivered like a little gift to your inbox every day.

I’m always grateful for you. But I’m especially grateful for you today, as we move together into this sacred month for poets. Feeling connected to other people who value what matters most to me gives me a sense of hope, clarity, purpose and family. Every moment at my desk, alone, has at its root a nectar of words, a net of stars, that holds us all.

What are you doing to celebrate National Poetry Month?

4 Comments on “Happy National Poetry Month!”

  1. And we’re off!
    I participated in NaPoWriMo last year and at the end of the month was very happy, more for the work I had amassed, rather than the poems themselves. Lots to work with in May. I do post them online though…with the hope that others will understand work done so quickly can’t all be gems : )
    Happy Poetry Month!

  2. Thanks, Sage, for broadening my horizons. I’ve done the Poetic Asides April PAD challenge for a couple of years now. I just bopped over to the Not Without Poetry site yesterday, and so far I’ve been two for two on both challenges. I guess I have been needing the company of poets and poetry this soggy spring–more than I had thought. Happy poem-ing!

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