Poem in Your Pocket Day – falling always sometime in National Poetry Month – is an international movement that encourages folks to center 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.
Poem in Your Pocket Day took place on April 29, 2021
Check out this year’s poems and audio recordings!
The selected poets of 2021 are: Dagne Forrest, Natalie Lim, Pamela Porter, Laurie Koensgen, Catherine Graham, Marion Lougheed, Stephen Bett, Eleonore Schönmaier, Laboni Islam, Margo Wheaton, Louisa Howerow, Moni Brar, Kim Fahner, Rae Crossman and Andrea Thompson
Ways to Celebrate
It’s easy to carry a poem, share a poem, or start your own Poem in Your Pocket Day event. Visit the Academy’s website for a full history of the program and other materials. Here are some ideas of how you might get involved:
- Start a “poems for pockets” giveaway in your school or workplace
- Urge local businesses to offer discounts for those carrying poems
- Post pocket-sized verses in public places
- Memorize a poem
- Start a street team to pass out poems in your community
- Distribute bookmarks with your favorite lines of poetry
- Add a poem to your email footer
- Post lines from your favorite poem on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr
- Send a poem to a friend
Dig through the archives! We feature new Canadian poets in each annual booklet, put together in partnership with Academy of American Poets so there’s lots to look back on. View, share, or copy and paste any Poem in Your Pocket selections!
PIYP Day 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016
For your French pocket poem needs, check out the 2018 booklet created by La poésie partout for La Journée du poème à porter.