Celebrate Poetry Month in April

When people think of major dates in April, they generally think of April Fool’s Day or Earth Day. For those who aren’t pranksters, or haven’t devoted much thought to “go green,” April may mean something else – a time to celebrate the art of poetry.According to Poets.org, the Academy of American Poets organized the first National Poetry Month in 1996 after the success of Black History Month which is held every February and Women’s History Month every March.”I think it’s a great month to bring about awareness of poetry both local and national,” said English major Jon Rourke.The purpose of National Poetry Month is to celebrate poets and poetry as well as to raise awareness and interest in the subject. It also strives to make poetry a more important component of the school curriculum.The Academy chose April as National Poetry Month so that it would fit in the academic calendars of schools around the country. April also doesn’t overlap with other celebratory months, making it the ideal time of year.As a part of National Poetry Month, April 17 has been dubbed Poem In Your Pocket Day. The idea behind Poem In Your Pocket Day is that every participant carries a poem around with them to read to family and friends. Poem In Your Pocket Day originated in New York City and has been celebrated every April since 2002.”It’s unfortunate that [National Poetry Month] is not as popular as it should be,” said Rourke.In the past, Lamson Library has promoted National Poetry Month by making poem collections readily available to students. They generally focus on specific themes or topics of poetry as well as celebrating individual poets like Robert Frost. Each year, the Academy of National Poets commissions a poster for National Poetry Month. Hundreds of thousands of copies are made and distributed for free to schools, libraries and bookstores around the country. In addition to April Fool’s Day (April 1), Earth Day (April 22) and National Poetry Month, April is also the home month of Tax Day (April 15) and National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. “National Poetry Month offers us a welcome opportunity to celebrate not only the unsurpassed body of literature produced by our poets in the past, but also the vitality and diversity of voices reflected in the works of today’s American poetry,” said former president Bill Clinton in 1996.Here are some ways you can celebrate National Poetry Month:1. Read a book of poetry.2. Memorize a poem.3. Attend a poetry reading.4. Read a poem at an open mic.5. Subscribe to a literary magazine. 6. Recite a poem to family and friends.7. Organize a poetry reading. 8. Buy a book of poems.9. Celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day.