April is National Poetry Month!

Each April the literary art form of poetry is celebrated during month-long festivities honoring this distinct literary style. National Poetry Month was first celebrated by the Academy of American Poets in April of 1966 and today, National Poetry Month is known as the largest literary celebration in the world.  Below are poetry selections from the Sullivan Family Library followed by ways that you can participate in National Poetry Month during social distancing.

Cruz, V. (1995). Paper dance: 55 Latino poets. New York, NY: Persea Books. 

"A collection of poetry from 55 Latinos/as. The first and still the most complete anthology of the best U.S. Latino and Latina poets from diverse origins in the Latin world." -from publisher 

Harjo, J. (2002).  How we became human: new and selected poems. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. 

"This collection gathers poems from throughout Joy Harjo's twenty-eight-year career, beginning in 1973 in the age marked by the takeover at Wounded Knee and the rejuvenation of indigenous cultures in the world through poetry and music." -from publisher 

Hongo, G. (1993). The open boat: poems from Asian Americans. New York, NY: Doubleday Books.

"Contains a collection of poems dealing with the immigrant experience by poets with ties to the Asian Pacific, and short biographies of each poet." -from publisher

Sitter, J. (2011). The Cambridge introduction to eighteenth-century poetry. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

"For readers daunted by the formal structures and rhetorical sophistication of eighteenth-century English poetry, this introduction by John Sitter brings the techniques and the major poets of the period 1700-1785 triumphantly to life... An approachable introduction to English poetry and major poets of the eighteenth century." -from publisher

Witt, J. (2015). Disquiet: poems. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

"A collection of poems that utilizes natural phenomena -- a bright peach, a fallen tree limb, the weight of gravity -- to evoke and reflect upon memory and human experience. The poems are structurally innovative, each shaped around a central axis as they trace the speaker's growth from childhood to adulthood." -from publisher

Celebrating National Poetry Month during Social Distancing

1. Search our over 2,000 poetry eBooks via our Library Catalog and selecting an "Advanced Search":

     Once in the Advanced Search section, click "ebooks" as your selected "type" of resource.

2. Sign up to a Poem-a-Day to get poems written by contemporary poets sent right to your email.

3. Participate in "Poem in Your Pocket" which is held every April 30th. Select a poem you would like to share and carry it in your pocket for the day. You can also share an image of your poem or a reading of the poem via social media using the hashtag #pocketpoem.