April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month

April 1, 2021

This year, the Academy of American Poets will be celebrating the 25^th anniversary of National Poetry Month in April! Join the fun and try out some of the activities listed below at home or at your local library.

Activities for Families

• Borrow poetry picture books from your library and create your own themed story time at home.
• Write out words on construction paper or index cards and have kids make their own poems using just these words.
• Watch and listen to kids’ poetry films on Kanopy – a streaming service provided by the Lackawanna County Library System.

Activities for Everyone

• Read a poem by a poet you have never heard about.
• Read a poem you have never read before by a popular poet.
• Read a poem by a local poet from your area.
• Borrow an eBook, eAudiobook, or print book of poetry from your local library.
• Read 2020’s most read poem, Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness.”
• Attend a poetry-themed event at your library.
• Read a biography on a famous poet.

Previous Walt Whitman Award-Winning Poets

Threa Almontaser, 2020, The Wild Fox of Yemen

Leah Naomi Green, 2019, The Most Extravagant Feast

Emily Skaja, 2018, Brute

Jenny Xie, 2017, Eye Level

Mai Der Vang, 2016, Afterland

National Poetry Series 2019 Winners

Michael Torres, An Incomplete List of Names

Benjamin Garcia, Thrown in the Throat

Diane Loui, Fractal Shores

Alexandria Hall, Field Music

Heid Erdrich, Little Big Bully

Newly Added Children’s Poetry Books at the Library

Everything Comes Next: Collected & New Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye

Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Brown, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Olivia Gatwood

A Girl Like Me by Angela Johnson

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mr. Rodgers by Fred Rodgers

The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems edited by Paul Janeczko

Search the library catalog for even more poetry collections.