Thursday, April 22, 2010

EARTH DAY 2010

Today the entire 24 hours is devoted to Earth Day, not just one hour. A number of events were scheduled today in Illinois. Earth Day is 40 years old this year. The Library has related displays in both Adult and Youth Services.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

POETRY MONTH 2010

April is National Poetry Month. Besides the official site, lots of links to poets, poetry, games, and forms can also be found through Infoplease. The Library of Congress has resources as well, including links and podcasts for our Poet Laureates. Another useful site is The Poetry Foundation. Some new poems by established poets can be found on 30 Poets 30/Days.

Some other interesting sites include Giggle Poetry, the Daily Poem, FindPoetry.com, The Poetry Archive, and Famous Poetry Online. On Garrison Keillor's daily radio program, Writer's Almanac, he reads a poem each day.

Poems are not always just straight forward iambic pentameter or even free verse. There are some strange and interesting forms to investigate and try out. Sol Magazine has an illustrated list of several, including a "wave", a "dorsimbra", a "redondilla", and a "pleiades". Some other fun forms are clerihews, fibs (based on a Fibonacci sequence), haiku, "Concrete" Poetry, and "Found" Poetry. One variation of "Found" poetry is done by stacking books so the titles on their spines make a poem.

Anyone can make poetry online, too. Try Magnetic Poetry or Instant Poetry Forms.