The Editors Talk National Poetry Month 2015

Ahh, friends, we made it. We made it through this busiest
National Poetry Month we've ever had.

Yes, we're a little tired. Satisfied, but a little snoozy.

April has come and gone, and what a month it was! Chances are, if you came to visit us here on the blog (or talked to us in real life- sorry we've been a little crazy!) you've seen just how busy we've been celebrating the month of our poetry people. From daily Instagram inspiration, exclusive free printables, our collaborative month-long poem, and double the writing prompts, National Poetry Month has been a whirlwind of writing and fun. 

What was your favorite National Poetry Month project?

A: I think my favorite project is a tie between the daily Instagram quote graphics (you can find the latest round up here or find our free printables here) and the renga project. Designing those quote graphics was challenging, but so much fun! I had a blast looking up quotes to feature every day this month, and we'll probably continue doing it---follow us on Instagram to keep up to date on all our adventures!

E: I'd have to say our renga was my favorite! Back in college, Alli and I had written one by trading haikus back and forth, and we'd been talking about writing another for a very, very long time. This time around we were a little more true to the renga's form (each of us did a series of haikus with couplets), which was a nice challenge; I had never thought to compose a haiku with the intention of a phrase coming after it. And, of course, it was nice to finally take ourselves up on the project we'd meant to undertake for years!

Which of the National Poetry Month prompts inspired you the most?

E: It was hard to pick just one...so I broke the rules and chose two: my prompt about acrostic poetry, and my post about blackout poetry. Sometimes, when I'm continually challenging myself to write, I can get burned out, churning out phrase after phrase and trying to mold it into one concise poem. (And trust us, when you're writing daily to celebrate NPM, it can get more than a little tiring.) What I love about blackout poetry and acrostic poetry is that you're setting a challenge for yourself that doesn't have anything to do with rhyme, line breaks, or syllable count; you're creating poetry that fits with a predetermined structure, which is a fantastic way for me to "unthink" and get out of my writing funk.

A: Man, oh man, is this a hard question! I'm also going to break the rules. Even though we wrote the rules. And this question. See, folks, key to poetry: write new rules, and then break those rules. ANYWAY, my favorite short and sweet inspiration prompts were: A Fallstreak Hole, When The Ocean Blooms, and The Depth of Skin. Seriously, I hoarded those ideas so they could all go out this month, and I walked away from writing them feeling so inspired. I hope they made you feel the same! The other post that seriously psyched me up was my "10 Things We Learned From "Dead Poets Society"" post. Because I love that movie and my "research" (essentially looking up ALL THE MEMES) was beyond entertaining. Also I made myself laugh (so cool, I know) when writing this post: "5 Reasons The Oxford Comma Matters, Damnit!". OK, I'm done for now! Even though I have 10 more favorites. 

What is your biggest take-away from National Poetry Month?

A: Community is more important than we think it is. If you think you're a one-man wolf pack writer (like I used to think I was)....try having a glorious community of like-minded people. Everyone needs a little good ole fashioned discussion now and again. You'll never feel more exhilarated than when you discover someone your brain runs off on creative tangents with. Find them. Love them. Never let them go.
This post I wrote on Ekphrasis (aka Art & Poetry's Love Affair) is a great example of the magic of seeking out collaboration and works to push back against. Our guest blogger for March, and our featured poet this month, Vernon, demonstrates this, too, with his ever-so-lovely translations of ancient Chinese poetry. And our fabulous graphic designer this month, Amy, also proved this with her amazing free printable designs. What I'm saying is this: when artistic folk find other artistic folk, magic happens. April is basically made for poets to climb out of their shells and see the sun for a little while.

E: It's so important to share poetry. For me, poetry has always been a very private event; I didn't talk about it, I didn't share my work, and I rarely wrote in public. While that's been slowly changing over the last few years of my life, our National Poetry Month celebration showed me the importance of bursting the protective bubble and starting the conversation. Talking about poetry opens you up to new poets (like we tried to do in our 5 Poems to Read Today series) and gives you the chance to get some honest feedback about your work.

Is it possible I've known these things all along? Yes. But there's something magical about the month of April that reminded me why I love writing poetry (and being a part of the poetry community!) all over again.

That's all for now, friends. Your editors are taking a much needed rest. 

Peace out.