Poem in Your Pocket Day 2022

Poem in Your Pocket Day – April 29, 2022 – 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…

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A Gathering of Poets in Response to Peril

How do poets respond to precarious events in the world? In his famous elegy for W. B. Yeats, W. H. Auden says, “poetry makes nothing happen.” And he adds: “it survives, / A way of happening, a mouth.” “On Feb. 24, 2022, when the world woke to the shock of the catastrophic bombing of Ukraine,”…

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NPM22 Blog: An Ecology of Intimacy: Through the Lens of Poetry by Penn Kemp

From Intimacy to Intimate, sans Intimidation. When asked to write a piece for National Poetry Month on Intimacy, who’s intimidated? Not me. I’ll just skip that ‘id’ and intimate softly what my heart wants…Yes, the heart wants intimacy, and who’s getting any, who’s getting too much in the last two years of involuntary isolation? My…

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NPM22 Blog: Poetic Intimacy by Fedana “Fefe” Toussaint

I wonder what he tastes like… It may seem like a sexual statement to make, but every time I see him, I remember that my hands were made to hold more than just myself. More than just secrets and the lonely that I wrapped onto my fingertips, so much that I can’t seem to hold…

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NPM22 Blog: Creating Intimacy Onstage by Charlie Petch

Effective performers have a talent for making the audience feel seen. They say the things you’d only think, and never speak. They somehow gain your trust from the stage, in front of a room full of people. As poets, how do you create intimacy on the stage? What are the elements of performance, of pacing,…

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Book Awards 2022: Shortlists

The League of Canadian Poets is proud to present the 2022 Book Awards Shortlists, including the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Raymond Souster Award. The winners – who will each receive $2000 thanks to funding from Canada Council for the Arts , Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council, – will be announced on May…

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NPM22 Blog: Close Friends by David Delisca

Close Friends. Ok. Whatever. Aight. The close friends feature on Da ‘Gram (Instagram) oftenly trips me out (or in). Bambi legs with sneakers, shuffling in its stance. I’m laced with my understanding of closeness that feels familiar, you know me cuz I know you. Makes it easier to share what I hold precious and as well, a…

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NPM22 Blog: We Speak in Poetry by Hasan Namir

Dear reader, If you are reading this, you’re either a poet or someone who appreciates and enjoys reading poetry. Or maybe you’re not a big poetry fan but you want to be. Or maybe you have a love-hate relationship with poetry. And to be honest, I don’t blame you. Whatever your relationship with poetry is,…

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