4/24/20

National Poetry Month 2020 Activity Pack Day 24

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Yep—April 2020 is still rolling along... which means...
Every day for National Poetry Month I'll be posting a few fun or interesting poetry links or videos, a Throwback writing prompt from this site, a few poems published in the last couple years and a couple classic poems—things that are poetry-related interesting or fun.

You will have a change to write poetry even if you've never done it before—the writing prompts aim to demystify the process of writing a poem. This will not take the place of the 2020 Writing Exercise Series, but will be in addition to it, so there will be a bounty of poetry to feast your eyes upon.

So. Let's begin.

April 24, 2020
National Poetry Month 2020 Activity Pack Day 24


1)  Let's start out with this quick video about Sherman Alexie talking with Alberto Ríos' about 'accidental poetry' and keeping creativity fresh with his son by improvising new song lyrics to famous songs for what he called "family opera".


2) TV TIME! Alberto Ríos was the 'First Poet Laureate of Arizona', a 6-time Pushcart Prize winner, Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellow, National Book Award nominee and was the Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets from 2014-2020. It is because of that last fact that we have videos of him reading poems every year in the same set up in the Academy's "Dear Poet" series from 2016-2020. Watch him age four years before your very eyes! Oh, and enjoy the poems. First we have "When Giving is All You Have" in 2016.


Next is Alberto Ríos reading his poem "Refugio's Hair" in 2017. 


Here is Alberto Ríos reading "Don't Go Into the Library" in 2018.


Here is Alberto Ríos reading the poem "A House Called Tomorrow" in 2019


And finally, here is Alberto Ríos reading "Nani" in 2020.


3) Now go read one, or preferably all of the following three 'recently' published poems:

“Overhead Tiffany, My Grandmother’s Light” by Jonathon Riccio in Gris-Gris Issue 10, Winter 2020.
"Cocktail" by Daisy Bassen in Packingtown Review Volume 13, Spring 2020.
"Migraine" by Lexie A Reese in Peacock Journal February 2019. 

4) Go read all of the following three poems that were published more than two years ago:


5) Since we were on a Dear Poet kick (it's a great and quite varied/long series) here is Terrance Hayes' Dear Poet entry from 2018 reading his poem "Barberism"