April 2020 has a few heydays remaining... so it's still...
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 29, 2020
National Poetry Month 2020 Activity Pack Day 29
1) Lets start out with some comedy. Yesterday we watched Stephen Fry talking very seriously, today let's watch a couple of his poetry-related sketches from the sketch comedy show he had with Hugh Laurie when they were much younger men. First he plays a school English teacher chastising... well, you'll see.
And here is "Suitable Poetry Sketch" about poetry safety.
2) TV TIME! Let's stick with comedians and check out this "Hair Poem" by George Carlin.
Here's Carlin a little more serious with a SLAM poem called "Modern Man"
Here is a reading of Russell Edson's short American Surrealist poem "Fall"
3) Now go read one, or preferably all of the following three 'recently' published poems:
“Lowcountry Elegy” by Vivian I. Bikulege in The Petigru Review Issue 13.
"At Seventeen" by Carl Boon in jmww July 13, 2018.
"Whispers of Poland" by Tiffany Stachnick in Landlocked Issue 2.1.
4) Go read all of the following three poems that were published more than two years ago:
5) Since we started light, let's get a little more studious (yet still interesting) at the end here with Academy of American Poets Chancellor Linda Gregerson talking about the history of the sonnet.
6) The time machine is set all the way back to August 8, 2014 for this "Killing the Pain" object exercise with multiple variations to try.. Even writers without much experience can have a piece coaxed out of them with this one.
