It's National Poetry Month! The Academy of American Poets, American Library Association, and tons of other awesome organizations have teamed up to bring as much poetry education as they can to all of us online and at home. You can find great information about their programs and resources on these websites:
There's even special events, like "Poem in Your Pocket Day", to help us find interesting ways to discover new poets and verses. Do you think you'll be celebrating the wonderful art of poetry this month? Tell us how in the comments!
Poems We Love
We hope you'll take a little time this month to explore the Poetry Foundation and other online collections of poetry from around the world! In recent years, poets like Rupi Kaur (Milk & Honey) have topped the bestseller lists with their modern books of poetry, sparking a wonderful upswing in poetry readership among today's readers and library patrons.
In case you'd like a good place to start, members of our library staff consider these poems among their favorites:
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot
Warning, by Jenny Joseph
Howl, by Allen Ginsberg
The Bean Eaters, by Gwendolyn Brooks
The Lady of Shallot, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Digging, by Seamus Heaney
Poetry For Kids & Teens
We like to remind our kid patrons that there's lots of different kinds of poetry, from every country and time period you can imagine! Some rhyme, some don't. Some talk about very deep emotions and some poems tell long stories, like Beowulf or the Odyssey. And some poems don't seem to make any sense at all, like "Jabberwocky." There are also lots and lots of poems that make us laugh!
One sub-genre of poetry that doesn't get much notice is known as "Novels In Verse." Like the classic epic poems throughout history, today's novels in verse tell long, full stories with engaging characters, interesting plots, and important lessons mixed in with their lyricism. Books like Kwame Alexander's The Crossover and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon are recent award-winners that have become part of many school summer reading lists, along with long-standing teacher picks like Karen Hesse's Out Of the Dust. While we think they're wonderful books on their own, they also appeal to reluctant readers who want to read a book quickly and get right to the point!
Consider browsing Overdrive and other online ebook collections for a book of poetry this month! We'd love to hear about your favorites, and any new ones you may have discovered recently!
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