April is National Poetry Month in the USA and it’s also when NaPoWriMo takes place.
Regardless of where you live, here are some ideas for getting more involved in poetry during April. If you develop any of these ideas into posts, leave a link to your blog in the comment section.
- read a poem a day
- keep a poetry reading journal – make notes about your responses and thoughts as you read poems
- recite a poem aloud – record it if you want to
- learn a poem by heart
- pin up poems in your house/classroom/work place: a different wall each day!
- tweet a line or lines from a poem every day during April
- look at the #poetsofinstagram stream on Instagram (also #instapoets, #instagrampoets, etc).
- copy out a poem by hand
- buy a poetry book
- subscribe to a poetry magazine
- take a poetry book out of your library
- read a poetry review
- write a poetry review
- write a blogpost about why you love/hate/are indifferent to poetry
- write a definition of what a poem is
- read a poem in translation
- translate a poem into another language
- interview a poet
- write about your favourite poem, poetry book, or poet
- Dear Diary – write your diary entries as poems
- go to a poetry reading
- book a ticket for a poetry festival
- watch a poetry reading online
- listen to a poetry podcast
- find a poem you really hate and write about it
- go to a poetry open-mic
- give two or more people a poem to read but remove the poet’s name – make notes about what they say
Any more ideas? You must have many! Please share them below and/or leave a link to your site.
I’m going to keep a poetry reading journal, something I’ve slipped out of the habit of doing recently. National Poetry Month will be the perfect opportunity to get back on track.
Josephine Corcoran 
[…] Source: Ideas for National Poetry Month […]
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I write a fragment a day anyway and now exchange fragments with two other poets, one I don’t know that well but she liked the idea. No critiques we just share on Sundays. Brilliant. Could be good to do it just for the National Poetry Month?
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It’s good to find someone to share your writing with. Would also be good to talk about a poem you’ve read, too. Sounds like you’re well set-up for April and beyond! 🙂
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I like the idea of emphasizing reading poetry as much as writing it. I’m going to be attempting it for the second time this year so I’m hoping it goes better than my last attempt!
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Yes, I’m going to try reading and keeping a journal. I read poetry anyway, of course, but I think I’ll use April as a chance to read in a more conscious way and record my responses. Best wishes with your poetry writing and reading this year!
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These are great ideas Josephine although alas my local community library did not have a single poetry book on the shelves this afternoon.
During April as one of the my extra poetry things to do I’m going to be re-reading Sarah Howe’s Loop of Jade. I’ve posted to that effect on my blog to make sure that I do it!
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Sorry to hear about your library, Caroline! Could you request a book? I’ve done that several times in Wiltshire and they’ve been brilliant. Loop of Jade is worth many re-visits, isn’t it? Really enjoyed it very much. Thanks for visiting – leave a link to your blog post! 🙂
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My local library is fantastic at getting books on reservation from the county library stock and like many other libraries in Buckinghamshire is run mostly by volunteers.
Loop of Jade is definitely one of those books which we’ll keep going back to. My blog is http://advancingpoetry.blogspot.co.uk/ for anyone who’d like to join in.
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[…] Poetry Month, I’m keeping a Poetry Reading Journal (just one of the ideas I mentioned here) and I’m REALLY enjoying Centres of Cataclysm: Celebrating 50 Years of Modern Poetry in […]
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I love it when I find great poems from recommendations so for National Poetry Month, I’m doing a ‘Poem of the Day’ thing on Twitter (@SallyDPoet). So far we’ve had Michael Donaghy, Philip Gross, Emily Berry, Jack Underwood, EE Nobbs and Karen Dennison.
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Great idea. I especially love the Emily Berry poem you tweeted – how appropriate, given its title 😉
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[…] there are lots of links to poems here, and I’ve posted some writing prompts and ideas here. 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month from Poets.org is […]
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