National Poetry Month is a month-long celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and observed since 1999 in Canada. As the Academy of American Poets states, National Poetry Month is meant to widen the attention of individuals and the media to the art of poetry, to living poets, to the nation’s complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern. National Poetry Month events and initiatives increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture while acknowledging and celebrating poetry’s ability to sustain itself in the many places where it is practiced and appreciated.

Learn more about National Poetry Month via the Academy of American Poets, the League of Canadian Poets and UK Book Trade’s National Poetry Month.