Guest Author - Betty Dobson

National Poetry Month Logo

April is National Poetry Month in Canada. The fledgling event was started in 1999 by The League of Canadian Poets, itself a more seasoned organization dating back to 1966.

Poetry does not currently enjoy mass popularity, having lost out to music videos, downloadable songs, and a litany of other pop culture staples. Instead, poetry seems to be the purview of artists, academics, and angst-ridden teens. The League created National Poetry Month as a means to shine the spotlight of public awareness on poetry and, perhaps, recruit new and returning admirers to the poetic fold. Each April, poets and publishers, schools and sellers, libraries and literary groups come together through such efforts as public readings, workshops, festivals, and more.

If you're looking for bigger, better ways to celebrate National Poetry Month, you have many options depending on where you live. One possibility is the Halifax International Writers' Festival in Nova Scotia. Or you might want to check out the Northrop Frye International Literary Festival in Moncton, New Brunswick. While neither event is exclusively dedicated to poetry, there are poetic activities to be found, including readings and workshops.

Another item of interest is the Calgary Poetry Slam, which takes place on the last Thursday of every month and includes an April session at the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival. Calgary's best Poetry Slam competitors move on to compete against poets from across Canada on CBC Radio's Annual Poetry Face Off during the first week of April. Listeners get a chance to vote for their favourite theme-based poems online before the grand champion is announced mid-month.

April is the perfect time for educators at every level--from primary to post-graduate--to expose their students to poetry. Activities can range from a teacher reading one poem to her class to encouraging students to write their own poetry. The poems could even be "published" on letter-sized pages, photocopied, and inserted in three-ring binders for each student to keep.

National Poetry Month exists to remind us all that poetry can still hold a place in the life of every Canadian. In fact, there’s probably a poet sitting next to you on the bus or waiting in line with you at the coffee shop every day. Or maybe you’ve been blessed with a poetic soul of your own. Why not share your gift with others in April? What better time could there be?