JKM Library: National Poetry Month: Library eResources

	: 2024-2025 Hours

"Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and, of course, poets, marking poetry's important place in our lives. In 2021, the Academy of American Poets looks forward to celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of this annual celebration!" ~ https://poets.org/national-poetry-month

Streaming Vidoes

Poetry: The I Ams
(Instruction, 6 minutes) Peter Thomas introduces Middle and Secondary teachers to the possibilities of using society's most forgotten objects as inspiration for writing poems. CPD trainer Peter uses Trevor Millum's Glad and Sad, I Ams, as a teaching resource for Key Stages 3 and 4. He challenges the teachers to write their own 'I Am' from objects which mean little to anyone else.
Poetry Lounge
(Documentary, 30 minutes) A documentary by James Seligman that captures performances by a diverse collection of young, talented poets, slamming their work in front of live audiences at the Poetry Lounge, an open-mic poetry forum. The video also includes interviews with many young poets: Thea Monyee, In-Q and Omari "Wise O" Hardwick, Brutha Gimel, and Gina Loring.
Rhythms in Poetry (American Passages: A Literary Survey, ep. 10)
(Documentary, 28 minutes) Amidst the chaos following World War I, Ezra Pound urged poets to "Make it new!" This call was heeded by a large range of poets, ranging from T. S. Eliot to Jean Toomer. This program explores the modernist lyrics of two of these poets: William Carlos Williams and Langston Hughes. What is modernism? How did these poets start a revolution that continues until this day?
Day 16: Blackout Poetry
(Instruction, 2:28 minutes) A how-to video on blackout poetry.
Poetry of Liberation (American Passages: A Literary Survey, ep. 15)
(Documentary, 28 minutes) For many, the 1960s mark the true end of modern America. Whereas the modernists remained serious about the transcendent nature of art, the artists of the 1960s wanted an art that was relevant. They wanted an art that not only spoke about justice, but also helped create it. This program explores the innovations made in American poetry in the 1960s by Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and Adrienne Rich.
Poetry: Less is More
(Instruction, 5 minutes) Peter Thomas delivers a resource for reducing and refining the writing of Key Stage 3 and 4 poetry students. In this CPD session, Peter introduces the miniature but mighty Cinquaine to Middle and Secondary teachers. He challenges them to write their own as a demonstration of good practice for inspiring reluctant poetry students as well as condensing the work of keener GCSE candidates.

Digital and Archival Collections

Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature (Library of Congress)
The Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature at the Library of Congress dates back to 1943, when Allen Tate was Consultant in Poetry. It contains nearly two thousand recordings—of poets and prose writers participating in literary events at the Library’s Capitol Hill campus as well as sessions at the Library’s Recording Laboratory.
The Children’s Poetry Archive
The Children’s Poetry Archive is a place where you can listen to poems read out loud.
Literature Primary Sources
Third-party resources compiled by Chatham University Archivist including poetry primary source collections.
The Poetry Archive
The Poetry Archive is a not-for-profit organization that produces, acquires and preserves recordings of poets reading their own work out loud. We make substantial excerpts from our recording sessions freely available online through this website.
Poetry Center Digital Archive
The Poetry Center houses the American Poetry Archives, an historic collection of over 5,000 hours of original audio and video recordings documenting the Reading Series up to the present. Open access to available audio/video.
Poetry International Archives
First launched as the English-language Poetry International Web in November 2002, the Poetry International Archives website brings you thousands of poems by acclaimed modern poets from all around the world, in the original language and in translation.
Poets.org: Poetry Archive
Conceived by the U.K. Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and the recording producer Richard Carrington, the Poetry Archive offers recordings by approximately 130 English-language poets (34 of whom are from outside the U.K.). This "free and growing collection of new recordings by contemporary poets and historic recordings of English-language poets from the past" was designed to be in keeping with Basil Bunting's belief that "poetry, like music, is to be heard."