Poem in Your Pocket Day 2026
POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY 2026
THURSDAY, APRIL 23
LA JOURNÉE DU POÈME À PORTER 2026
LE JEUDI 23 AVRIL
Held in the last two weeks of National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day is an international movement that encourages people to centre poetry within their daily interactions.
On PIYP Day, select a poem, carry it with you, and share it with others at schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, coffee shops, street corners, and on social media using the hashtag #PocketPoem.
This annual initiative is organized by the Academy of American Poets, celebrated with a free downloadable PDF booklet containing contemporary American and – since the League joined forces in 2016 – Canadian poetry to share.
La Journée du poème à porter est un événement auquel toutes et tous peuvent participer en partageant leur amour de la poésie. Pour cette adaptation francophone de l’événement Poem in Your Pocket Day, qui se tient le dernier jeudi du mois d’avril, La poésie partout propose une sélection de textes de poètes du Québec, du Canada francophone et des Premières Nations. Tout le monde peut porter un poème, sans le dire à personne, ou bien en utilisant le mot-clic #poèmeàporter.
Depuis 2017, La poésie partout organise la Journée du poème à porter parmi ses multiples activités de diffusion et de dissémination de la poésie.
Call for poems: open to Indigenous poets
The 2026 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection, curated by Michelle Poirier Brown, will feature work from Indigenous poets alongside award-winning poems from 2025 and 2026.
2026 PIYP submissions are open to Indigenous poets only. Non-Indigenous poets are encouraged to submit to the League's Cold Moon Contests, open for submissions from November 15 - January 20.
Across Turtle Island, Indigenous communities are facing an increasingly challenging issue around the legitimacy of Indigenous heritage claims. The League is aware of this issue, and we are working with our communities to understand how we, as a settler-colonial organization, can empower and support Indigenous poets. At this time, submissions are open to self-identifying Indigenous members without further verification of heritage claims.
Selected poems will be published in the 2026 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection and published on Poets.ca . Selected poets will receive a $300 cash prize.
Deadline: December 17, 2025
About the juror: Michelle Poirier Brown
Michelle Poirier Brown is a Red River Métis writer and performer living on unceded syilx territory in Vernon, BC. In 2022, she published You Might Be Sorry You Read This (University of Alberta Press) and Intimacies (JackPine Press) and was named a Writer to Watch by CBC Books. Michelle’s poetry and short prose has been published in CV2, Vallum, The Antigonish Review, Grain, Prism, Event, The Greensboro Review, This Magazine, and The Sun as well as in over a dozen anthologies.