April is National Poetry and Poetry Writing Month!

The idea to have a whole month in a year dedicated to poetry started in April of 1996, when members of the Academy of American Poets handed out copies of T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land” (which starts with the famous verse “April is the cruellest month”) to New Yorkers waiting in line to file their tax returns. It quickly spread to Canada in 1998 and has been celebrated here for the past 24 years. Each year has a unique theme, and this year’s National Poetry Month theme is intimacy (League of Canadian Poets).

April is also the National Poetry Writing Month. Poets from around the world participate each year in a “challenge” of writing one poem a day during the entire month of April. Many of them share their work on social media using a hashtag #todayspoem, so make sure to keep an eye out for your favourite poet’s work online this month.

UBC Events

This year Koerner Library is collaborating with UBC School of Creative Writing to mark the National Poetry and Poetry Writing Month. Koerner Library is proud to share posters and cards with poetry written by students in CRWR 301 throughout our reading and study areas. Furthermore, a showcase of poetry books reflecting this year’s theme is displayed in Koerner Library’s main hall.

Poetry Collections @ UBC Libraries

Below is a small selection of works published by poets in British Columbia and Vancouver, many of whom are or have been affiliated with UBC.

The Collected Works of Pat Lowther   Glass Float by Jane Munro The Good Life by Brad Cran Children of Air India by Renée Sarojini Saklikar This Wound Is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt From the Poplars by Cecily Nicholson God of Missed Connections by Elizabeth Bachinsky   Additional Resources League of Canadian Poets National Poetry Month National Poetry Writing Month Participants UBC School of Creative Writing	The Self-Completing Tree by Dorothy Livesay (also online) The Anachronicles by George McWhirter A Grain of Rice by Evelyn Lau Seven Sacred Truths by Wanda John-Kehewin Vancouver for Beginners by Alex Leslie Song & Spectacle by Rachel Rose The Junta of Happenstance by Tolu Oloruntoba	Liquidities: Vancouver Poems Then and Now by Daphne Marlatt Music at the Heart of Thinking by Fred Wah 100 Days by Juliane Okot Bitek Jabbering with Bing Bong by Kevin Spenst Enter the Chrysanthemum by Fiona Tinwei Lam For Your Safety Please Hold On by Kayla Czaga Waiting Room by Jennifer Zilm