National Poetry Month is a time to celebrate and remember poets for their craft. It is also a time to acknowledge poetry’s critical role in culture domestically and abroad. It is celebrated yearly by readers, students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, and poets worldwide.
The Academy of American Poets founded the first occasion of National Poetry Month in April 1996, and it has continued since then. Every April, institutions such as The Academy of American Poets, Poetry Foundation, bookstores, publishers, and public libraries provide activities, initiatives, and resources for everyone to get involved.
Whether you are a reader or a writer, there is a way you can participate in the poetry fun!
Activities and Resources
There are a lot of ways to participate.
Many online poetry websites have poem-a-day newsletters where you can receive a poem in your email, you guessed it, daily. These poems come from many unique poetic voices and range in theme and form. Signing up means you are already adding poetry to your life without paying a single penny.
Certain institutions, such as the New York Public Library, are providing free poetry workshops during the month of April. This is a perfect activity for anyone who really wants to get their foot in the door of writing poetry.
The Academy of American Poets hosts Poem in Your Pocket Day every April. Individuals are encouraged to carry around a poem(s) to read and share with others. This can be done all month long and even after the month is over.
The Academy of American Poets and Poetry Foundation, among other poetry-related organizations and publishers, has online archives of thousands of poems for anyone to read and access anytime for free. Some poems even have audio recordings, and some even are spoken by the poet who wrote them.
Consume More Poetry
Among the online archives of individual poems, most poets still release physical collections of poetry. Ada Limón, the current U.S. Poet Laureate, released her most recent collection The Hurting Kind in 2022.
More recently, in 2024, she curated an anthology of nature poems for the anthology You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World. This anthology captures national parks through distinct voices.
Poet Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003) released a collection of short poems titled Musical Tables in 2022. It was a big shift from his longer free verse poems that readers are familiar with. Billy Collins has published a small collection of haiku poetry in the past.
Poets of TikTok are releasing their own collections, too. @korijanes, who has 800k followers on TikTok, released her poetry collection books close in 2023. Similarly, @raeganspoetry, who has 2.8m followers on TikTok, released her poetry collection Lover Girl in 2023.
Get Involved
There are many ways for fans of poetry to get involved. Many libraries and poetry archives offer free resources and ways to read poetry. Additionally, many poets have a social presence online that anyone can follow and read the work they post for free. Even Taylor Swift is celebrating National Poetry Month by releasing her new album The Tortured Poets Department!
