April is National Poetry Month, the “largest literary celebration in the world.” You will see a wealth of info about poetry throughout the month. People will post haiku or carry poems in their pockets.
The Library has tons of poetry in our collection, just waiting for you to find your favorites. If you’ve never explored poetry, you can start with Poetry 101, or maybe kids’ poetry. Our staff also has a lot of recommendations.
You also might like to read about poetry or poets to get a better understanding of the craft and art. Your library card gives you access to literally thousands of publications in our E-Library that cover every topic you can imagine, including, you guessed it, poetry.
Here are three articles we found in our E-Library about poetry. All you need is your library card and PIN to access these from anywhere.
We hope you enjoy these!
Poetry: Something About Everything
Who better to read about than Maya Angelou? She wrote poetry for children as well as adults, winning all kinds of awards, including a Pulitzer Prize and Grammys.
“Angelou has often spoken about this painful process of distilling her thoughts and the flow of her words. She mentions that 15 pages of notes might end up producing four lines of poetry. She has explained that the effort involved encompasses a discipline that is very difficult. But she finds the results rewarding and is still attracted to this means of expression.”
The Zuihitsu and the Toadstool
Zuihitsu is a genre of Japanese poetry. This article discusses the possible definitions of what zuihitsu is and gives examples from history.
“Scholars agree that coming up with a conclusive definition for the zuihitsu is challenging if not impossible. ... And so, my question continues: what makes up this quintessential Japanese genre?”
Poet Rupi Kaur: 'Art Should Be Accessible To The Masses'
If you’re on Instagram, you may already be following Rupi Kaur. If you’re not, this will certainly make you want to.
“I think the issue is because we have a form of art that is highly, highly traditional - meaning poetry. And then you have this other thing, which is new and quite nontraditional, which is, of course, social media. And so the gatekeepers of these two things are kind of confused at this moment.”
Bonus! Poetry in Motion: Poetry in Kanopy Streaming Video
View the Kanopy poetry collection
These films include biographies, histories, performances, and deep dives into some of the world’s best known poets.
Want to explore more?
Our E-Library is a collection of online resources you can use anytime for free with your library card. To help you see the kinds of information you can access in the E-Library, we offer just a taste of what you can find in the E-Library in these 3 articles, selected from our online resources.
Don’t have a card yet?
Get a library card online. Once you have one, the E-Library is here for you, 24x7x365.
