In case you don’t know….April is National Poetry Month (NPM). And no, that is not an April Fool’s Joke.
In fact, this April marks the 20th anniversary of NPM, which was initiated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. Over the years, NPM has become a large literary celebration with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets all celebrating poetry’s place in society.
Many writers use National Poetry Month as a motivator to write more poetry. Below I list a number of sites that could help you infuse your poetry practice with new energy during NPM.
Some sites encourage writers to share the poems that the prompts help generate. I personally avoid that step, for two reasons. For one, something I freewrite in response to a daily prompt is not ready to be shared immediately. And second, (and I admit this might be a little paranoid) I want to protect the "unpublished" status of my work so I can freely submit it elsewhere in the future. That’s my two cents to consider.
And with that said, here are some potential sources for poetic inspiration during April:
Poetic Asides PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge:
http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-guidelines
Shade 30FOR30 Poetry Prompt Challenge:
http://lutherxhughes.com/2016/03/28/30for30-poetry-prompt-challenge/
NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month):
thirty//thirty:
Poetry Super Highway Prompt-A-Day for National Poetry Month:
http://poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/a-poetry-writing-prompt-a-day/
Poetry Writing Workshops from Mslexia:
https://mslexia.co.uk/workshop/poetry-writing-workshops/
(Note: This is from a previous year. I don't know if new prompts will be offered in 2016, but the archive is a resource itself.)
30/30 Prompts at Asterisk and Sidebar*
http://nicolehomer.tumblr.com/
The Time is Now (year-round resource of excellent writing prompts offered by Poets & Writers):
http://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises
Happy National Poetry Month to all!