April is National Poetry Month which means a reason to celebrate poetry EVERY. DAMN. DAY. To be fair, I treat every month as national poetry month and every day as a poetry day.
Here are a few ways to celebrate National Poetry Month:
- Write poems! Need some inspiration? Lots of poets and presses are offering prompts throughout the month – Two Sylvias Press will email you a prompt every day for a nominal fee. If you sign up for Megan Falley’s newsletter she’ll email you prompts for free.
- Attend a book launch party! Dan Brady, a local poet is having the launch party for his book, Strange Children, and I’m attending. Even better, I’m bringing a friend!
- Go to the library and check out a book or two of poetry. If you live in/around Arlington, come by and get a custom poem written on the spot as part of The Poet Is In! I’ll be the resident poet on Saturday, 7 April from 1-3pm (Central Library: 1015 N Quincy St, Arlington, VA) and Tuesday, 24 April from 3:30-5:30pm (Westover Branch Library: 1644 North McKinley Rd, Suite 3, Arlington, VA).
- Attend a poetry festival. I’ll be attending the Split This Rock Poetry Festival – it’s three days of panels and workshops and readings and poetry goodness.
- Buy a book of poetry. Buy it for yourself or as a gift to a friend. If you can, buy it directly from the poet themselves. Second best, buy it from the publisher – especially if it’s a small, independent publisher. (A little more on buying directly from the poet/publisher can be read here.) You can buy my new chapbook, The Violence Within, for $10. If you want a copy of all three of my chapbooks send $20 – this price includes shipping so it’s a great deal! (Send money as a gift please!)
- Attend a poetry reading. I’ll be listening to four Write Bloody poets perform their work and I absolutely cannot wait! Many poetry readings are free.
- Enter the poetry contest I’m running on Twitter. It’s easy and you might walk away with copies of all my chapbooks, plus other goodies!
Ultimately, there’s not really a wrong way to celebrate National Poetry Month.
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