4/6/21

National Poetry Month Activity Pack Day 3

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 *Reposted from 4/3/2020


Yes, I've checked and April is still here, and in America that 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 bevy of poetry to bathe your mind with.

So. Let's begin.

April 3, 2020
National Poetry Month 2020 Activity Pack Day 3


1) Watch this 20 minute documentary about author of over 20 books of poetry and winner of the National Book Award, Ruth Lilly Prize and Wallace Stevens Award as well as the former Poet Laureate of New Jersey, Gerald Stern which is mostly him reading poems and showing pictures—and despite how I explained that, is actually really interesting.




2) Go read one, or preferably all of the following three 'recently' published poems:

"The Tree in the Midst" by John Shoptaw in Poetry Magazine April 2020.
"mountains before mountains were mothers" by Aimee Herman in Cream City Review Vol. 43 No. 2. (and listen to the audio)
"The Weight of Him" by Laura Foley in One (from Jacar Press) Issue 20.

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


4) Check out the following two-minute video of Phillip Levine reading his poem "Belle Isle, 1949".



5) Instead of going back in time to do an exercise from Notebooking Daily past, today write an ekphrastic poem (a poem in some way inspired by another piece of art) based on the following image, which you can, should you choose to accept the challenge, submit to the Rattle Ekphrastic Challenge which has a deadline of April 31st and is free to submit.


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2021 Update:

7) Bonus new poems! These additional poems were published in 2020 or 2021. Fresh off the presses.
"Tall Grass Blues" by Pablo Piñero Stillmann in Prelude 4.
"Publishing, the Old-Fashioned Way" by N. Minnick in Brazenhead Review Summer 2020.
"Planet of the Monster Girls" by Jessie Lynn McMains in Crow & Cross Keys February 24, 2021