Poetry kinda does need a month. I mean, Timothée Chalamet doesn’t even include it in his list of the arts no one cares about.
But anyway folks, it’s National Poetry Month, and if there’s one thing I want you to know about, it’s NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, where the challenge is to write a poem every day for a month. I dream of a world where it’s harder NOT to write a poem, where writing a poem is irresistible and free of judgment or capitalist concern.
NaPoWriMo exists thanks to the poet Maureen Thorson, who has a vivid Instagram account where she often shares wonderful poems that stop me in my scrolling. Here it is.
I run a small press called Publishing Genius, focused on hard to classify poetry. Our latest just came out, a sterling collection by Claire Taylor called April and Back Again. It’s a really gorgeous, carefully written book about turning 40, being a mother, existing in a fraught world … which doesn’t really do it justice. It’s also funny and sometimes sad. Heather Brown Barrett praised the book saying, “Claire beautifully conveys the futility and significance of life’s crumblings and renewals. She speaks to the resiliency of our humanity, reminding us—as mothers, as lovers, as Earth dwellers—to ‘know enough / to greet each offering / as if it’s the last.’”
As for my own writing, I’m hoping to live in this world where I write a poem a month. One thing people in my Adirondacks community may not know is that I also have two books of poetry. One is called Adam Robison and Other Poems, which was nominated for a Goodreads Readers Choice Award and is really funny, and the other is Say Poem, which is about the performance of poetry. They’re available in the store, along with all the Publishing Genius books.
Here’s a video of me reading at the Poetry Project in 2011 (spoiler: I bombed):
So now that you know my bona fides (lol), please come back every day this month for more poetry content. Look here for writing prompts, book reviews, inspiration, angular ideas, and discordant musings.