In the U.S., April is National Poetry Month. It was introduced in 1996 and deserves much more recognition than it currently gets. For those of you currently in the U.S., The Academy of American Poets has an interactive map on its Web site that lists events for the month (and beyond). You can access the map at http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/382 .

We encourage our readers to write at least one poem every day for the month of April. That should give you enough for a chapbook by the end of the month. You should also read poetry daily no matter what month it is.

Today, we received an e-mail from the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Foundation in New Jersey. The contents were more economic doom and gloom. Apparently, the foundation has reduced the grants it makes for poetry projects, mostly due to the rising cost of hosting the poetry festival. While the cost of the festival as doubled in recent years, the funding given to the foundation has decreased 30%. This is never good news for any organization (profit or non-profit). Even though the Dodge Foundation is trying to cut costs and eliminate some grants, it’s important to take note that it has donated more than US$13 million to poetry projects since 1986.

In these difficult economic times, we have to remember that literacy is important. Those of us with the funds to do so should support projects that promote literacy and the arts. The rest of us should take advantage of what is offered in bookstores and libraries.