Coming Soon: PoMo (aka National Poetry Month)

April is National Poetry Month, but the Academy of American Poets (AAP), organizers of the annual event, are hoping that booksellers will be inspired to extend their celebrations of verse throughout the year. In addition to sponsoring numerous readings and poetry-related events in April, AAP is launching a Web-based Poetry Almanac on April 1 that will provide 365 days' worth of poetry highlights, activities, and ideas for individual or classroom use.

AAP, which began its national campaign to bring poetry to the public in 1996, has steadily increased the resources it has made available to booksellers, educators, and librarians. The Poetry Almanac, which will be available online at the academy's Web site, www.poets.org, is its most extensive yet. The site will be changed every day to highlight different poets and movements in poetry. For example, readers of the Almanac in April will discover 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month. During May, the month on poetic schools and movements, one can find out more about the Beats, the New York School, and Black Mountain schools of poetry, among others.

Charles Flowers, associate director of AAP, talked to BTW about the increasing popularity of poetry throughout the country: "Interest has been steadily increasing throughout the 90s. After 9/11, many people turned to poetry. People respond emotionally and intellectually to poetry. That's why they keep coming back. There's a slow and steady growth."

Flowers attributed the building interest to the work of some of the more well-known poets. "All the poet laureates have done their share," he said. "Rita Dove, Robert Pinsky, Billy Collins, Louise Gluck, who's in the middle of her term. They make poetry visible and vibrant in our culture."

During April, poetry has its moment in the sun, explained Flowers. "Year round there's definitely a lot going on with the genre. But in April the media shines its spotlight on it. There're more activities, publicity, the schools teach poetry. It's great, we have critical mass and everyone celebrates the genre. And it happens everywhere, not just in New York and San Francisco." Flowers added, "We're thrilled booksellers are seeing poetry as a viable category to pursue readers, and we like to support them any way we can."

Kicking off Poetry Month, AAP will host "Poetry & the Creative Mind," a celebration and exploration of the ways in which poetry helps shape America's culture. The ticketed event, co-chaired by Jorie Graham and Rose Styron, will be held in New York at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Information about the event is available on the AAP Web site, www.poets.org.

As part of next month's celebrations, the Children's Book Council, in collaboration with AAP and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is sponsoring Young People's Poetry Week, from April 12 - 18, to commemorate the place of poetry in children's lives. A number of poetry-themed materials for children have been developed and are available through CBC. Information about materials for purchase and online resources can be found at the CBC Web site at www.cbcbooks.org. The site also features an interview with Jane Yolen, as well as her original work "A Poem Is ...," which is featured on the this year's Young People's Poetry Week bookmark.

For more information about National Poetry Month, including schedule information, event listings, spring 2004 poetry releases, an image of this year's poster, and the National Poetry Map, go to on www.poets.org. To contact the Academy of American Poets, call Flowers at (212) 274-0343, ext. 15, or e-mail [email protected]. --Karen Schechner