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Poetry Tue Apr 01 2014
A Poem A Day: National Poetry Writing Month Gets Underway
Rejoice, ye wordsmiths, for National Poetry Writing Month, is upon us! Founded by Maureen Thorson, as an offshoot of National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo), NaProWriMo is an annual project, spanning the month of April, in which participating poets strive to write a poem a day. The site hosts hundreds of participants and their entries, as well as posts prompts for inspiration, and features poems and presses of the day throughout the project's run.
NaPoWriMo, or "30/30", is a challenging exercise for novices and veterans, but one Chicago (by way of Detroit) poet, Stephanie Lane Sutton, is helping to make it a little easier. Sutton created NATIONAL POETRY WRITING MONTH: 30/30, a forum that "offers a private, user-driven space to promote accountability for daily writing. Additionally, this is a place for poets to connect to an online community and support each others' writing." Poets of all levels are welcome, but please note that users must register to view and/or content.
A little background on the forum's founder: Sutton's poems have been featured in Button Poetry, elimae, The Legendary, Yes Poetry Magazine, and others. Her first full-length manuscript was a finalist in the Write Bloody Publishing Author Competition '13. She teaches poetry to teenagers in Chicago Public Schools and is a member of the inaugural Spoken Word Educators Cohort at Concordia University. She also co-founded and runs the West Side School for the Desperate, a "radical art collective for young and emerging artists."
If you are ready to take up the gauntlet--or quill--you can submit your site here to NaPoWriMo organizers. There are also several local festivities planned to promote poetry and motivate poets; here are a few of your options:
- The Harold Washington Library holds its annual Poetry Fest on April 29 in celebration of National Poetry Writing Month.
- The Society of Midland Authors hosts a performance by J.W. Basilo and Dan Sullivan on April 9.
- The Poetry Foundation, in addition to hosting several events, is giving away copies of back issues of Poetry Magazine.
