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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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).

    The Poet Is In 2017                                                                

  4. 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.
  5. 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!)
  6. 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.
  7. 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.