Thursday, March 10, 2016

Announcing the Poetry Month Celebration


I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I've decided to just go ahead and do it.  I am going to host a Poetry Month Celebration here all during April, which is National Poetry Month in the US (and in Canada, I believe).  I love poetry, but for many years I did not -- I thought poetry was scary and difficult and unapproachable.  I think a lot of people still feel that way, so with this event, I want you to help me by spreading the poetry love, or trying to feel some poetry love, or even getting your first taste of poetry.



What will this celebration involve?  Well, seeing that this is me, you won't be at all surprised to hear that I'm going to host a giveaway during the first week, giving away some little books of poetry.  And I'll be posting something myself about poetry each week.  I'll also create a poetry-related blog tag that you can fill out on your own blog, and do a link-up thing for that when April gets here.  But I also need contributions from YOU!



What sorts of contributions?  Anything poetry-related!  You can do as many or as few posts as you like.  You can declare ahead of time what you want to write about, or you can stop by during the month and say, "Hey, I just posted this poetry thing..."  I have created a new page to hold the ideas for (and eventually links to) all the posts, and you can comment either there or here with ideas, suggestions, and post links :-)  It'll basically be like a month-long blogathon.

Some ideas to get you started:  you could post about a specific poem, some info on a particular poet, a review of a poetry collection, your own original poetry, or something else you dream up!

And if you're excited about this event, do please share one of the buttons on your blog :-)

24 comments:

  1. This sounds like exciting! I'm really busy with reads, but I think I might be able to use this for my Deal Me In Challenge and analysis a couple of poems from my list. You always do such great events that if I don't participate, I always feel like I'm missing out on something fun! :-)

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    1. Awww, thanks, Cleopatra! That's a mighty nice compliment :-) Shall I put you on the list with a question mark so you can decide on a topic later?

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    2. Yes, please, put me on the list. I probably won't be adding anything original (unless I can find some funny/painful poems from my youth) but I'm sure I can come up with something.

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    3. Okay, Cleopatra, I've put you on the list :-)

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  2. This is interesting. I always feel like I should be more knowledgeable about poetry. Your poetry month should help!

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    1. Jennifer, I feel that way too sometimes. I hope it'll be fun and helpful for lots of my blogging friends!

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  3. Awright...I'm in. April is crazy-busy for me (not reading/blogging) you know all that life stuff that interferes with reading/blogging, but I think I can manage to put your button on my blog, and use the opportunity for a bit of shamless self-promotion and post an original poem or two.

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  4. How fun! I'd like to try and come up with something for this, just not certain what at this point. So add me to the list and I'll get back to you about my subject. If that works? :)

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  5. What a wonderful idea! I'm definitely doing this. I think I'll just share some random poems I like :)

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    1. Hannah, that sounds great! I've got you on the list.

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  6. This sounds like a fantastic idea!!
    I love poetry, but don't read much of it, so it'll be a great opportunity to remedy that:)
    And I'll definitely do a post or two about it - maybe talk about my favourite poets..

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    1. Rose, I'll put you on the list, then. That sounds great! And yes, I don't read as much poetry as I'd like to, so this is partly me kicking myself into poetry gear :-)

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  7. Love poetry & a great idea! Does it have to be a new post? - I did one some time ago on our favourite poetry anthologies.

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    1. Carol, I'd prefer it be a new post, yes. Now, if you have done several posts involving poetry, you could do one new one that links to those, if that makes sense?

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    2. I had an inspiration last night after I commented. Sign me up for a 'poetry sample.'

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    3. Lovely! I'll add you to the list :-)

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  8. I'm in!

    I learned about this through Carol.

    I am coming to poetry a bit more every year, and for sure, I'm writing at least ONE post, I need to tell you all about Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Borges.

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    1. Hello, Silvia! I'll add you to the official list :-) A post on Spanish-language poets sounds awesome!

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  9. I saw Cleo's post about this, and thought I should join in! I've been very slowly making my way through a collection of poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar, so I'll try to finish that up and post about it in April. Thanks for hosting!

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    1. Amanda, that sounds great! I'll add you to the list for a post about Paul Laurence Dunbar :-)

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  10. I'm in!:)

    Here's my sign-up post: https://breadcrumbreads.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/in-which-i-contemplate-joining-the-poetry-month-celebration/

    ~ Risa

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