April is great for a lot of reasons (hello, spring weather!), but my favorite part about April is that it's Poetry Month!
Scholastic has lots of resources for teaching poetry (including joint resources from the Academy of American Poets) and for celebrating it with your kids at home, so be sure to check them out. And of course, we publish amazing poetry books, including novels in verse for older readers like Serafina's Promise by Ann E. Burg and engaging poetry books like Neon Aliens Ate My Homework by Nick Cannon. There's so much to read and learn (and love) about poetry!
To get you inspired, I asked around for people's favorite poets. Even if you think poetry isn't for you, why not use the month of April to expand your reading horizons and check them out?
Julia recommends: Garth Graeper and Leonard Cohen. She says, "I am lucky enough to be married to a poet! Garth has published two chapbooks and is working on a full-length book. I love his writing, and I also love that by being included in his poetry community here in New York I was able to see the side of poetry that lives and breathes outside of the book. And speaking of which, my other favorite poet is Leonard Cohen, the singer and songwriter. I discovered his music and his books in high school and have loved him ever since. When my husband and I were very, very new parents we saw Cohen in concert, where he of course sang, but also performed some of his songs as poems, which I loved. (What I didn’t love is that although he is over 80, he was able to perform literally on his knees well into the night, while we were practically falling asleep from infant-exhaustion.)"
Megan recommends: Sharon Olds. "What a woman!"
Mike recommends: e.e. cummings. "I am very pragmatic person, so I really appreciated e.e. cummings’ style when I first read his works in high school. It helped me loosen up and understand ideas and thoughts can be portayed in numerous ways. It was an eye-opener for me at 16."
Brittany recommends: Joaquin Zihuatanejo. "I am obsessed with him – his spoken word poetry is so powerful! You can watch his incredible TED talk here."
Deimosa recommends: Reed Adair Bobroff. "He was the Albuquerque teen poetry slam champion every year that he was in high school (where I taught him), and traveled with the Albuquerque team to Brave New Voices in 2010, where they took third in the nation. During his senior year Reed won the Young Native Writers Essay Contest for a piece about introducing poetry to students in Indian Country, and he just won the The Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program’s inaugural Playwriting Contest. It is an honor to have taught him!"
My recommendations: I've never met a teenager who wasn't affected by the intense, often moody, deeply felt poems of Sylvia Plath or Anne Sexton, so those are good places to start for any teenagers you know. For narrative, searing poems, try Seamus Heaney or Margaret Atwood. And Elizabeth Bishop is a total gem. But my all-time favorite poet is probably Mary Oliver, whose lush writing moves me to tears:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
