Tips for Programs and Discussions

Open houses and receptions can create a sense of a living literary community. Host a reception for local poets, and keep a running list of their names and addresses. To find out who the poets are in your region, contact one of the following:

• Poets & Writers : 72 Spring St., NY, NY 10012, (212) 226-3586
• Your local arts council. Find contact information at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies website, www.nasaa-arts.org/aoa/saadir.shtml.
• Writing programs in local universities
• Local literary organizations
• Local bookstores

Host a “Dead Poets Slam” in which community members are invited to read a poem from the collection. (Gerard Manley Hopkins meets Elizabeth Bishop and Langston Hughes!)

Include poetry in book discussion groups. At selected gatherings use three poems as the text for discussion. Use poetry for book talks, too.

Sponsor an “open mic” poetry reading. Have library visitors sign up to read for five minutes each. Invite someone from the community to be an emcee.

Try sponsoring poetry readings that will attract both teens and adults. You might book a more established writer and pair them with an emerging poet. If you can, have a question and answer period and/or reception afterward. Publicize, publicize, publicize.

Poetry writing workshops—either for young adults or adults—encourage the growth of a personal poetic voice and ultimately foster reading with a writer's awareness. Workshops are best scheduled to meet at the same time each week for at least three sessions with a local poet/facilitator. If you need to, lead the workshop yourself. Look on the internet for easy-to-lead poetry exercises. Teachers & Writers publishes books on teaching poetry— browse their catalogue at www.twc.org.  Or try these resources:

Behn, Robin and Chase Twitchell, eds., The Practice of Poetry , Harper Perennial, 1992. (Over 90 writing exercises from poets who teach.)

Goldberg, Natalie, Writing Down the Bones, Shambhala, 1986. (Zen philosophy, anecdotes and writing exercises.)

Oliver, Mary, A Poetry Handbook, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994. (A book on craft by a celebrated poet: meter, rhyme, form, revision.)

Then publish an anthology gathering work from your site's writing workshops. Display and circulate the collection. Host a publication party.

For detailed information on planning a poetry event or writing workshop, quick-start writing exercises, and how-to's on poetry slams and open mikes, order the PITB Sourcebook