Celebration of Poetry

April is National Poetry Month which was introduced in 1996, by the Academy of American Poets. (AAP) It is a month-long celebration of poetry in the USA. Honoring not only the poetry heritage, but the living poets as well. National Poetry Month was established to increase the attention of society and media to poetry.

Inspired by Black History Month and Women's History Month, April was chosen for National Poetry Month. During this month the AAP, in coordination with publishers, libraries, government agencies, poets and art organizations promotes the reading of poetry. In 1998, the AAP supported a project to distribute 100 thousand free books of poetry from New York to California.

Some goals of National Poetry Month are to introduce more Americans to the delight of reading poetry, to emphasize the extraordinary legacy achievements of the American poets and also to bring poetry to the public in an innovative and instantaneous way, like the iPhone application "Poem Flow." Developed in collaboration with Poets.org and Text Television Inc., this application is an entirely new way to experience poetry. Each day a new poem becomes available while you can keep the previous poems on your device. Poem Flow can tell you when and where each poem was last read and this way creates an instant community of simultaneous readers. It is rated from users as a stunning and beautiful application. "In a sea of apps ... this one lets you relax without imposing, lets the flow wash over you. Like a daily ritual," says a customer review on the Apple website. Besides, if you do not have an iPhone, you can simply subscribe to the Poem-A-Day Email and on Poets.org which will send you a new poem every day to stay connected to the poetry world.

Another goal of National Poetry Month is to increase the media's exposure to poetry, and thus encourage the publication and sales of poetry books, and of course to increase public and private charitable support. The AAP promotes all these goals through different activities during this month. To ensure national attention, the AAP sends thousands of press releases and media kits to editors and journalists across the country. AAP also distributes posters for free to teachers, libraries and booksellers nationwide.

National Poetry Month is a month long appreciation of creative writing. This annual celebration cooperates to promote reading poetry not only in April, but year around.