Spring means warm weather and baseball, and in the book industry, April also means National Poetry Month. This year, the Academy of American Poets, instrumental in the founding of the national celebration, will again be coordinating a wide range of poetry and poetry-related events across the country.
The 10th National Poetry Month celebration kicks off later this week with the Academy's annual benefit, "Poetry & the Creative Mind," held at Lincoln Center. Best described as a celebration of poetry by a lengthy list of celebrities, the event will feature such stars and media personalities as Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston, Diane von Furstenberg, Tony Kushner and Dan Rather reading their favorite poems.
"It gives you a chance to see who's reading what," said Tree Swenson, executive director of the Academy of American Poets, about the event. "And they get to show that poetry is important and to introduce a wide range of poetry to the general public."
But Swenson also emphasizes that National Poetry Month is "not New York—centric," noting that the Academy uses its Web site, poets.org, as a clearinghouse for poetry month events around the country. Among the many activities it is helping to promote is the 10 Years/10 Cities Reading Series, featuring such poets as Mark Doty, Maxine Kumin, Gary Snyder and Jorie Graham reading at separate venues that stretch from Vancouver, B.C, to Washington, D.C.
In New York, the Academy is in the midst of overhauling its poets.org site. "It'll be bigger and better," said Swenson. As part of that revamp, Swenson said the Academy will relaunch the Poetry Book Club, originally an attempt to create a kind of Poetry Book-of-the-Month Club, as an online information center for poetry reading groups. "We think it can help the sales of poetry," said Swenson. "And poetry lends itself to group reading and discussion from multiple viewpoints."
"It's a strong time for poetry," added Swenson, citing the support National Poetry Month has received from communities, libraries, booksellers and publishers. "The idea for a national celebration was apt and right."
