by Bridget Richard

April is National Poetry month, and with April having just started, many are excited to participate in all the aspects that this month has to offer.

National Poetry Month is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, having been first established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. Poets.org says that the aim in creating the official month was to “highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets, encourage the reading of poems, assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms, increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media, encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and encourage support for poets and poetry.”

The National Poetry Month is a way for both writers and readers of poetry to be reminded and reunited with poetry, and to provide events for many poets to get together and reach out to others in the community and share their love.

Poets.org also has an extensive list of different activities to celebrate the month here from making recipes by famous poets to creating poetry on the sidewalk with chalk!

Communities across the country also have various poetry events scheduled during the month as well. Most Ohio universities have activities through their writing programs, and the Ohio Poetry Association also shares information on different events happening on local levels throughout the state.

BHS  English teacher Mrs. Reed has been active member of the local poetry community, and even attended the Winters Library poetry reading on the April 7,  which featured local published poets David Petreman, Barbara Astor, and Jeff Roush. When it came to why celebrating poetry is important Reed said, “It is the art of writing; it really is. It captures the heart and essence of what it is to be human, and of our experience on Earth. And I truly do believe that a poet resides in the heart of each person, whether spoken or unspoken.”