March 21st is World Poetry Day, and while the day is almost over, we do have National Poetry Month coming up in April, so these tips and ideas will help. And anyways, having even just 3 interesting ways to celebrate poetry is wonderful to have, anytime, anywhere, right?!
As many of you know, I love poetry, and share that love with you every Sunday (almost) with my Poetic Sundays section. That gives me a chance to dabble a bit with poetry as well, and let you read my drafts and first attempts and more such things. So thank you for reading those every week, and for your kind comments that keep me going.
Circling back to the topic, I have tried to come up with
3 Interesting Ways to Celebrate Poetry
Write a Poem
But before you wonder, I do have an interesting twist to it (after all, the post title does say interesting ways!)
- Team up with your family members or friends, your classmates or colleagues, or simply a random group of people if you so wish.
- Pick a theme, a poetic form, an idea (or just free verse it all) and write a poem together.
- You can do this in so many ways. One idea is below:
- Each of you can contribute a part of the poem (a line, a couplet, a stanza, or even just words) and put them together
Perform a Poem
- Enact it, recite it, record it, by yourself or make it a joint effort again.
- You can pick your favorite poem by someone else, or pick a poem you wrote (even the one using the idea above). Or if you are planning it as a gift for someone, pick their favorite poem.
- If it is telling a story, you could make a short play out of it, or you could just read it out loud (emote it as needed, of course). And share it with others, via social media or among those you want to.
Read and Listen
This year’s theme for World Poetry Day is to “spotlight indigenous poetry, to celebrate its unique and powerful role in standing against marginalization and injustice, and in uniting cultures in a spirit of solidarity.”
- UNESCO includes a number of poetic forms from around the world in an effort to preserve these rich cultural heritages; you can listen to the Hudhud chants of the Philippines, the Mapoyo oral tradition of Venezuela, or the Koogere oral tradition of Uganda, among many others via UNESCO’s website.
- Listen to poems from another language (even if you don’t know the language itself very well or at all)
- Or read poets around the world in a familiar language.
Related Reads and More Ways to Celebrate Poetry
Of course, there are so many other ways to celebrate poetry.
- Check out 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month at Poets.org
- Gift poetry. You can look at ideas here with 21 Great Gifts For the Poetry Lover In Your Life
- Check out these 12 Women Poets to Read
- Read a novel in verse. You can find a few suggestions in this post: Ten Reasons to Love Verse Novels and Novels I Love
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And Now, the End of This Post
Dear reader, how will you celebrate poetry, this World Poetry Day, during Poetry Month, or any other time? Do you have any ideas to share? I would love to hear them, as well as your thoughts on this post, as always!
