While April showers bring May flowers, the month of April also brings literary flowers in the form of poetry with National Poetry Month.
National Poetry Month first started in April 1996, to bring attention to and encourage the reading of poetry, according to the American Academy of Poets website. Since then, National Poetry month has grown into the “largest literary celebration in the world.”
To celebrate, both the Media Center and South’s literary and arts magazine “Echoes” will be running multiple events focused on the creation and reading of poetry which you can participate in.
Describing poetry, Language Arts teacher Ms. Dara Sheller said it is “all of the most wonderful words in the most original or concise order.”
“As a poet, you have to be so precise in your word choice to have the power behind what you’re trying to say,” said School Librarian Ms. Mary Desmond. “It is such an art for writers to be able to do that, to be able to say so much in so little.”
Reading something that does so much in so little presents its own challenges, Ms. Sheller said “poetry has always been something that requires close reading and patience, and so it has
appealed to the elite.” These challenges are the reason why the goal of National Poetry Month for the Media Center is “more exposure.” Ms. Desmond said, “Just try it because you very well might find a poem that has been here the whole time that you just didn’t know about.”.
Here are a few things you can do to explore poetry this upcoming month.
If you want to get started by reading some poems, throughout the month, the Media Center will have a display of poetry books you can check out and read. You can also check out websites like poets.org, and the National Poetry Foundations website online for
other poems to read.
If you want to dip your pen and write some poetry this month, “Echoes” is the place to go. The club, which meets in 901, will host a poetry contest on Thursday April 3. “Echoes” will also hold a school-wide poetry jigsaw puzzle where students can write on a piece of paper and assemble all of their poetry into a large art piece on Thursday, April 24.
You can also visit the Makerspace in the Media Center to also make black-out poetry, a form of poetry where rather than writing words from scratch you cross out words from a page of published text, like a page out of “The Great Gatsby.” to make your own poem.
This month is not only about reading or writing but sharing poems. On Thursday April 10 is this years annual Poem in Your Pocket Day. Ms. Desmond said she tries to “encourage people, staff members, students to carry around a poem, whether it be on their phone or like an actual written poem, and then to just be able to like have these encounters with people and just share the poems.”
To cap off the Month on Wednesday, April 30, there is another opportunity to share out some poetry during lunch for an Open Mic where people and staff will take turns to read out their poem of choice.
Ms. Desmond said, “The success of Poetry Month comes from the assistance of the students.” Go ahead and get involved, try it, and see where poetry takes you.
