NPM 2020
Celebrate A World of Poetry this April for National Poetry Month 2020!
The League of Canadian Poets invites you to celebrate the 22nd National Poetry Month this April 2020 by opening yourself up to “A World of Poetry.” We hope that this theme will inspire conversations, poems, and dialogues about the many ways poetry is expressed and honoured around the world, as well as the cultural impacts of poetry in different regions. We encourage poets from around the world to speak and write about what poetry means for their life experiences, perspectives and identity as well as the roots of poetry in their culture or country.
Download this year’s poster, designed by Megan Fildes!
What will you read this National Poetry Month? What events will you organize, attend? Will you start your own poetry writing project? Will you write your first poem? Will you share your poetry on stage for the first time?
NPM archives
Join the #NPM21 Conversation!
Share your NPM activities and join the conversation by tagging us on Twitter or Instagram @CanadianPoets, and use the official #NPM21 hashtag.
While you’re planning, check out some of our resources if you need a place to start: our “Get Involved” blog post suggests many ways to celebrate April, from hosting an event to setting a 30-day writing challenge; last year, we put together a blog post of suggested NPM activites for young readers that can be faciliated by educators, parents, and librarians; and we rounded up a few little ways to work poetry into your day-to-day here!
Poem in Your Pocket Day Returns
Near the end of April, we will celebrate the 5th annual Poem in Your Pocket Day across Canada. The day encourages people to select a poem, carry it with them, and share it with others throughout the day. Find out more at https://poets.ca/pocketpoem/.
National Poetry Month began in the US in 1996, spearheaded by the Academy of American Poets on the steps of a post office in New York City. There, the story goes, Academy staff members handed out copies of T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land,” which begins, “April is the cruellest month…” to individuals waiting in line to mail their tax returns. Established in Canada in 1998, NPM now brings together schools, publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, and poets from across the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in Canada’s culture.