What is National Poetry Month?

National Poetry Month is held in one of my favorite months of the year. Ever since 1999 it has been celebrated in United States of America in April. Maybe I like this month so much because it is my birthday month, but also because this great celebration incorporates another great pastime of mine and that is writing poetry.

National Poetry month was first introduced into our country back in 1996 by Academy of American Poets, an organization that was created in 1934 that dedicated itself to the art of poetry. Even though the first celebration of National Poetry Month was back in 1996, it still took three years for America to catch on to the national obsession and set a specific month aside for this great cause.

The Academy of American Poets were so inspired by the success of Black History Month and Women's History Month, they decided to organize a group that was made up of publishers, booksellers, poets, teachers and many more to discuss the need to have a month long holiday to celebrate poetry.

In 1998, only one year before this holiday became a month long Nationalized holiday, the Academy of American Poets joined the American Poetry and Literacy Project and distributed free books of poetry during the month of April. During this time, on April 22, the President (Clinton and First Lady) hosted a hosted a Poetry Party.

Knowing a little about National Poetry Months History is great an all, but why do we celebrate it? Why do we need a whole month to devote to it? Simple, we first need a whole month to celebrate this National holiday because you can not just sum up all the great poets in the world in just one day. That is like taking Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and other famous Black Americans and trying to only studying them, honoring them for their accomplishments and celebrating them all in one day. There are so many great poets out there that have touched so many lives that, to be honest, takes a lot longer then just 30 days. Some of the great named poets out there are Langston Hughes, Rita Dove, Robert Hass and so many more.

Even though you may know all of this that other question to why we celebrate National Poetry Month still lingers around. Simple, on April 1, 1996 President Bill Clinton said it best when he stated "National Poetry Month offers us a welcome opportunity to celebrate not only the unsurpassed body of literature produced by our poets in the past, but also the vitality and diversity of voices reflected in the works of today's American poetry....Their creativity and wealth of language enrich our culture and inspire a new generation of Americans to learn the power of reading and writing at its best"

I am sure there are many forms of poetry that has been writing out there that expresses how you feel, and words you want to say from the simple forms of poetry to the more complex-ed and it would be a shame to allow this talent and history just to be overlooked. One way for you to celebrate this month is host your own poetry party. Invite other fellow lovers of poetry over for a night of reading of their favorite poets or better yet, have your guests write their own to celebrate National Poetry Month.