About this Month and its Importance to the Modern Classical Movement
National Poetry Month was
established in April 1996 by the Academy of American Poets with three main
goals in mind: to elucidate the legacy
and achievements of American poets, to entice more people of the public into
appreciating poetry, and to celebrate poetry in all its forms and to recognize
their contributions to culture. Since its inception it has been celebrated
every April in the same fashion as other months of cultural celebration such as
Black History Month, with special programs in libraries, literary contests on
poetry forms, etc… Throughout this month people will be making commitments to
learning poetry and appreciating poetry. They will either keep poetry journals
where they write their own poems or create their own commonplace books filled
with their favorite poems. But most importantly they will look at poetry
through a lens of broadening their appreciation of various poetry styles.
This month is about sharing in a
love and appreciation of poetry in all its forms, recognizing the divergent
ways in which culture has manifested itself in poetry and how in turn those
many poetry forms have been crucial in the formation of a stronger culture. As
the aforementioned description above indicates, during the National Poetry
Month people celebrate poetry in all its forms by studying those forms and
coming to appreciate the nuances of those many forms.
As a result those who celebrate in
this month are being exposed to forms of poetry they might not have once seen
as essential to the culture since articles and programs focused on National
Poetry Month are focusing on the different movement in poetry. Believe it or
not there are those who have had little to no exposure to the classical style of
poetry or have believed that the art form is dead and no longer relevant to
culture. However, as they are shown that this is utterly and completely false
they will come to appreciate the form that we all know is key to the cultural
development of the world. As they study the nuances of classical poetry they
will come to realize that no poetry form in the modern era has nearly as many
nuances and thus they will come to appreciate the amazing complexity of this
form.
It is my belief that the very
message that this month brings to intellectuals who appreciate literature –to
appreciate poetry in its many forms and celebrate in its contributions to
culture- will help our movement grow and bring more people to crave for new
poems in the classical styles written in the modern era. As people read through all the eras of poetry
they will know which is strongest in culture and as they will soon know that
this art form is not obsolete and can be returned to the vanguard of the modern
literary movements. And so this month is incredibly important to the movement
of modern classical poetry and we ask you to join with us this month of
spreading the idea of a modern classical poem.
