What’s New for Day Three?

Day Three. National Poetry Month. “corydon & alexis, redux.” Author D. A. Powell. Verse two in a fancy new feature from Image Chef called Word Mosaic. Cool, huh? You can make your own using any words you choose, any colors, several shapes, and one or two letters, like your initials. But I digress. Just go to the Academy of American Poets website, sign up for their Poem-A-Day via email, or just go right now to read all of corydon & alexis, redux. Or read about poet D. A. Powell. Whatev. You know the drill. You can also read other poems by Mr. Powell or read all of the poems posted so far this month. “corydon & alexis, redux” is from Mr. Powell’s new anthology, Chronic, which is newly published by Graywolf Press. You can click here to order it from Amazon.

Welcome to National Poetry Month

It’s April! That means it’s time for the Academy of American Poets and their website at poets.org to celebrate by publishing a poem a day and also celebrating the poem’s author. We’ll be celebrating National Poetry Month along with them.  If you’re a poetry fan, you can go to the website and sign up to receive an email of each day’s poem. On April 30, they’ll also be celebrating their second annual Poem In Your Pocket Day.  Just find a poem you love and carry it in your pocket all day to share with friends and family. Today’s poem is “Summer at Blue Creek, North Carolina” by Jack Gilbert. You can read the poem here and read about Mr. Gilbert here. Oh, yeah, and here’s a Wordle of the poem.

Are You Ready for Poetry?

Next month is National Poetry Month, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. Since April 1996, the Academy has been uniting publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, schools, libraries, and poets across the country to celebrate the value of poetry in American culture. You can visit the Academy’s website each day at www.poets.org to enjoy their poem a day throughout the month of April. April 30, 2009 will be designated as Poem in Your Pocket Day, in which you are asked to carry your favorite poem around in your pocket all day to share with your friends. Visit the website for more ways in which you can celebrate National Poetry Month.

The 2009 National Poetry Month annual poster is created by renowned illustrator and graphic designer Paul Sahre. If you happen to be a school, bookstore, or library, you can order one for free. Sponsors of the poster include The New York Times, National Endowment for the Arts, Random House, Inc., Merriam-Webster, and The Poetry Foundation. The 2009 poster features the lines “Do I dare / Disturb the universe?” from T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” You can also order copies of previous years’ posters for $5.00 each from this page.