Celebrating poetry in National Poetry Month

Poetry. Words that conjure a landscape, a situation, a moment, an emotion in our mind’s eye. We compose verse to honor someone on a special occasion or to describe a moment we hope to cherish. Perhaps to recall an ordinary day. Poetry is often performed so the sound is important.

The idea of designating April as National Poetry Month was launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and this year marks the 25th anniversary. The Academy, in designating this time, hoped to focus attention on the role of poets and poetry in our culture. The idea of celebrating the “bards” has become so popular that National Poetry Month is one of the largest literary events in the world, with millions of academics, libraries, bookshops and cultural organizations getting involved.

New Hampshire attracts poets and there are a number of ways you can become involved.

Hobblebush Books is teaming up with Gibson's Bookstore in Concord to present Conversations with Granite State Poets, an offshoot of their Granite State Poetry Series!

The programs are being held on Mondays at 7 p.m. on Zoom Webinars, and registration is free through Eventbrite.

• Monday, April 12 at 7 p.m., Martha Carlson-Bradley and Liz Ahl

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/147626527919

• Monday, April 19 at 7 p.m., Rodger Martin and Henry Walters

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/148779885643

• Monday, April 26 at 7 p.m., Alexandria Peary (NH Poet Laureate) and Margot Douaihy

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/148785875559

The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library is hosting an online Celebration of New Hampshire Poets during April. Each day the Center will feature a Granite State poet. The poems can be found on the Center for the Book blog.

The Center is also inviting New Hampshire residents to participate by adding their “widget” to your social media or blogs.

You can help promote New Hampshire poets, you can join in the celebration by adding the NH Celebrates Poetry widget to your own blog, website, or Facebook page and have the poetry posting appear automatically in the widget throughout April. To get the widget, visit the Center for the Book Blog, look at the right-hand panel of the blog, and click on the "getwidget" link below the NH Celebrates Poetry widget, which is the second item from the top of the panel.

If you want to become a nationally recognized poet, submit a poem to NPR’s All Things Considered. Each week during April a poet will join the program to talk about some of the submissions that caught their eye. NPR is looking for original poems — haikus, couplets or freeform. To send your poem to NPR share it:

On Twitter: Tweet your poem, in 140 characters or less, with the hashtag #NPRpoetry.

On TikTok: Post your poem to your TikTok page using #NPRpoetry. Remember to keep it to no more than 15 seconds and, of course, radio friendly.

Our own New Hampshire Poet Laureate, Alexandria Peary, the recipient of a 2020 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship and the author of six books, most recently published Prolific Moment: Theory and Practice of Mindfulness for Writing (Routledge, 2018) and The Water Draft (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019). Her third collection of poems, Control Bird Alt Delete, received the Iowa Poetry Prize. She is posting daily poetry prompts at New Hampshire Magazine. For more information: www.nhmagazine.com/celebrate-national-poetry-month-with-daily-writing-prompts.

Last year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit New Hampshire in March and plans for National Poetry Month in 2020 would had to be cancelled, Alexandra Peary hosted two virtual poetry writing groups each week in April. At the end of the month, New Hampshire residents were invited to submit their work for consideration in an anthology of poems addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 100 writers submitted their work — each with a unique voice and a fresh perspective on the pandemic’s impact in New Hampshire. The book has been published by Hobblebush Books in Concord, and is available at local New Hampshire bookstores.

•••

You can follow Elizabeth on Instagram at elizh24 or send her a note at: elizabeth@laconiadailysun.com She is an author and journalist. Her books include: Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited (Easton Studio Press, 2015), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David R. Godinez, 2015), Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011).