National Poetry Month at the Library
March 31, 2020
Since 1996, April has been designated National Poetry Month by the Academy of American Poets. The purpose of this monthlong celebration is to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is offering a variety of online poetry programs during April to celebrate.
National Poetry Month each April is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets marking poetry's important place in our culture and our lives.
On April 21, Charlotte Readers Podcast, named best podcast in Charlotte 2019 by Queen City Nerve, will host five Queen City poets, who share their love of poetry and their poetry journeys and perform two of their poems.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and Charlotte Readers Podcast partnered to bring these local poets to the podcast stage in celebration of National Poetry Month. You will hear poetry by Bluz, Jay Ward, Kathie Collins, Kia Flow and Shane Manier.
About the poets --
Bluz:
slam champion, spoken word artist, Emmy award winner and coach of SlamCharlotte, a competitive poetry team that won multiple National Poetry Slam championships
Jay Ward:
poet and teaching artist, youth slam poetry coach and winner of National Poetry Slam and Individual World Poetry Slam championships.
Kathie Collins:
a published poet, student of Jungian psychology, graduate instructor and co-founder of Charlotte Center for Literary Arts.
Kia Flow:
poet, author, stage performer, National Poetry Slam championship team member and recipient of Poet of Influence award by The Jax Poetry Fest
Shane Manier:
creative coach, artist, live event painter, poetry mentor, National Spoken Word Poet and youngest poet to be inducted into the Poetry Council of North Carolina
Be sure to check our social media channels for special sneak previews leading up to the poetry panel discussion podcast.
The panel discussion with the local poets will be available on the Charlotte Readers podcast on April 21.
National Poetry Month Booklist
Please watch the Library website for updates on events and available resources.