Poetry is beautiful. Poetry can make us laugh, cry, think or even act on a passion or cause. Poets have a way of crafting simple words into beautiful tapestries of deep feeling and deep thought. Poets are very much inspirational artists.

April is National Poetry Month. The Academy of American Poets initiated National Poetry Month in 1996. They introduced National Poetry month in order to increase the awareness of and the appreciation of poetry in the United States.

National Poetry month was inspired by Black History Month and Women’s History Month. In 1995 The Academy of America Poets brought together a group of literary organization, booksellers, publishers and even teachers in order to talk about the usefulness of having a similar month long event in order to celebrate poetry.

Over the past few years, National Poetry Month has been successful. In 1998, The American Poetry and Literacy Project, with the help of the Academy passed out thousands of free poetry books that April in many states, including California and New York. Also in that year, former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton hosted a poetry event at the White House that showcased such poets as Rita Dove, Robert Hass and Robert Pinsky.

In 2001 the Academy had people vote for a poet that they most wanted on a stamp and Langston Hughes was chosen. The Langston Hughes stamp was issued the next year.

The celebration of poetry every April has grown. Every year educators and entities such as publishers and literary organization promote poetry during the month of April. Many publishers also release poetry titles in April and bookstores have special poetry readings. In 2002 the first Poetry and Creative Mind gala was organized to raise funds to support National Poetry Month. It is now a yearly event. Every year scholars, public figures and artists attend the event and read their favorite poems.

The depth and scope you find in African American novels is also seen in African American poetry. Though all good poetry conveys a message, a purpose or a feeling, African American poetry is unique because the African American experience is unique. The history of slavery, reconstruction, civil rights and the Black Arts Movement are unique to the African American experience and produced literature and poetry that was relevant for the time period it was created in. The experiences of African Americans are rich and varied and this allowed for the creation of poetry that is unlike anything else. Poets were activists and story tellers. The rich poems of African Americans should be read by all persons.

This month we will touch upon such great poets as Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston and others.