History of National Poetry Writing Month
National Poetry Writing Month (also known as NaPoWriMo) is a creative writing project held annually in April in which participants attempt to write a poem each day for one month. NaPoWriMo coincides with the National Poetry Month in the United States of America and Canada.
NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April.
This website is owned and operated by Maureen Thorson, a poet living in Washington, DC. Inspired by NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month), she started writing a poem a day for the month of April back in 2003, posting the poems on her blog. When other people started writing poems for April, and posting them on their own blogs, Maureen linked to them. After a few years, so many people were doing NaPoWriMo that Maureen decided to launch an independent website for the project.
My History with National Poetry Writing Month
I started writing poetry in 1988 after I had been exposed to T.S. Elliot in my honors English class in high school. In 1992 I started reading my poetry publicly at Espesso Europia Coffee Shop in Abilene Tx while I was in the United States Air Force. This continued for many years when I ran my own poetry reading at Cannova’s in Loves Park Illinois and attended the poetry slams at The green Mill in Chicago Illinois. While living in Rockford Illinois I published my first book of poetry Throwing Yourself at the Ground and Missing in 2007 followed by Postcards From Someone You Don’t Know in 2008 Wisdom From the Sack in 2010 and Shaving Crop Circles In My Chest Hair in 2017. You can get copies of all of these books in my merch section. In 2009 I started participating in National Poetry Writing Month which became the basis for my book Wisdom From the Sack and Shaving Crop Circles in My Chest Hair. In 2020 I started publishing my podcast version of the challenge and those can be viewed here for 2020 and here for 2021.
April 25th Poetry Prompt
Today’s (optional) prompt is based on the Aisling, a poetic form that developed in Ireland. An Aisling recounts a dream or vision featuring a woman who represents the land or country on/in which the poet lives, and who speaks to the poet about it. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that recounts a dream or vision, and in which, a woman appears who represents or reflects the area in which you live. Perhaps she will be the Madonna of the Traffic Lights or the Mysterious Spirit of Bus Stops. Or maybe you will be addressed by the Lost Lady of the Stony Coves. Whatever form your dream visitor takes, happy writing!
April 25th Poem
The Call of Victory
25 April 2022
dedicated to Winged Victory
I was a wanderer for so many years
Hearing a call from so far away
I wanted to find the origin of the voice
But in no state could I find it
I moved from place to place
I moved from person to person
For so many years no one matched the voice in my head
I often thought it was merely a dream
One day it hit me
The voice was not from America
It came from some place older
Some place that would take my heart
So I climbed on the plane for Paris
Not fully knowing what I would find
My itinerary was not fully planned
I saw the sights recommended
And one day I went with another traveler
She had an idea
Walking into the Louve we tread lightly
Viewing the great masters works on every wall
It was there I heard the voice clearer than ever
When I turned a corner and looked up
There the voice was
The stone could not contain her
I dropped to my knees
At the top of a staircase was the one I had been searching for
Without arms
Without a face
Standing on a vessel
Against the storms of the world
She stood there
I had completed the journey to find the voice
And to find my ancestral home
The ancients that came before
And landed me in the residence I rented
Had come full circle
The journey was done
And the temptation to never leave permeated
But the voice changed that night
When I slept in a rented bed
The voice changed from someone unknown
Someone mysterious
To the voice of a friend
And so that journey started on the very next day
I headed back to the States
And searched out the one who calls me love
I took her to see the one I had spent so many decades searching for
Only to see my ancient removed
My heart sank through the floor
And doom ensued
But know I count the days until
I can bring my children there
To tell them the story of how I searched unknowingly
For the voice in the stone
That led me home
To make a world for them
Reaching Out
To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let’s start that conversation.
- Email: timothy@createartpodcast.com
- YouTube Channel: Create Art Podcast YT Channel
- IG: @createartpodcast
- Twitter: @createartpod
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