I was browsing the Web for information about the National Poetry Month 2013, this April, and I came across this interesting contest (http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/619)
This April, during National Poetry Month 2013, the Academy of American Poets is celebrating the role the correspondence has played in poets' development and writing lives. In the spirit of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, in which Rilke replies to letters from a young military cadet and aspiring poet asking for his advice, we are inviting students to engage with poetry by handwriting letters to some of the poets who serve on the Academy's Board of Chancellors.
Any young person is encouraged to participate! Here's how:
1) Read some of the poems written by the Academy's Chancellors.
"Latin & Soul" by Victor Hernández Cruz (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19930)
"Cherry Blossoms" by Toi Derricotte (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23270)
"Broadway" by Mark Doty (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15632)
You can also go to http://www.poets.org/ and type in the names of other Chancellors, where the "Poet" search bar is, to find a wider variety of their poems!
- Mark Doty
- Anne Waldman
- Marie Ponsot
- Marilyn Nelson
- Arthur Sze
- Toi Derricotte
- Ron Padgett
- Edward Hirsch
- Victor Hernández Cruz
- Marilyn Hacker
- Juan Felipe Herrera
- Naomi Shihab Nye
- Claudia Rankine
- C.D. Wright
2) Compose a one to two page handwritten letter sharing your questions and thoughts about the poem with its author. (Be sure to include your age and grade, along with a return address if you hope to receive a response.)
3) Send your letter to:
Dear Poet Project
c/o Academy of American Poets
75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901
New York, NY 10038
The contest said that the letters that are selected will be featured on the Academy's website, Poets.org, and may receive a reply from the poet!
I thought that this would be a fun contest for a) knightly reviewers
, and b) poets! I am a huge fan of handwriting letters, as well, so I will definitely be participating in this. Let me know what you guys think!!~Indie.
