^wordcloud of all the 2026 napo titles! do you see yours? (from wordclouds.com)
The shelves have been filled, the jars are full of delicious poetry, the poetry was saved from evil bugs, and another wonderful April of National Poetry Writing Month has been completed! This year's NaPo featured new and old poets coming together to celebrate what can be created through the artistry of words with the support of a wonderful community and an extra dash of creativity and inspiration. Congratulations to all of our participants from 2026! Here's some of the highlights!
Participation numbers were up this year from the last two years! This year we had 68 participants, 71 NaPoWriMo threads, 217 tracked comments, and 989 total poems posted in April! (Easily over 1000 if we count the pre and post NaPo poems!) That's 10 more participants than last year and even more poems! We had the same number of poets who took on the challenge and were able to complete "Poem A Day" which is massively impressive! 17 poets wrote 30 poems, and 16 poems wrote 15 or more poems! Some of our poets went above an beyond with @Luminescent writing 40 total poems, @soundofmind writing 43, and @herb writing 50! That's a lot of poetry to pack into the month!
An extra thank you to the ever-wonderful poetry crew (and friends!) who helped with the organization, enthusiasm, and support of this event! @Meshugenah (our diligent poetry reader!), @Quillfeather (our April Madness Engineer!), @cocteau (our host for @exquisite corpse), @keystrings, and @EllieMae all played a part in helping this event come together! Thank you to all of our site members who helped "like" or comment in the threads - your cheer encouraged us onward!
This year, I accomplished a personal goal and was able to read (most of the poems) and leave a comment in every single NaPo thread and hit 100 NaPo comments by the end of the month. Some themes I noticed... this year our thread titles had a lot of memory and loneliness as stand out repeating themes, as well as the fall of "champions" and the looking up to something more, we were racing home or running from it, we were wading through grief, and finding strength within ourselves, within our memories, and holding on to the sea, the sky, the sun, the flowers, and all the poetry in between! Some poets were increasingly inventive weaving in graphics in their threads, I think I saw at least 5 languages represented in the NaPo threads, and we had some beautiful music in the threads too! There were sticky-note poems, notes-app poems, and other fun formats too! All in all, if you haven't had a chance to read outside of your own thread I'd strongly encourage you to jump into the forums and see what's there! It's worth a read! Another trend I noticed this year was we could not wait for NaPo - I think I saw more March-NaPo poems than ever before this year!!
Well without further-ado, here are our distinguished award winners (badges will be distributed before the end of May) but if you think your name is missing from a badge list where you should have earned one, please please please reach out this week so I can get you added before the badges are given out!
Writing Poems
A Peck of Poetry (15+)
@fatherfig @spottedpebble @romanticchemist @flowersforplath @ToastK @cherie @candyhearts @FireEyes @thetaostedwriter @kagehana13 @Hannah @Leya @Liminality @Roxanne @NadyaStatham @Ventomology
A Bushel of Poetry (30+)
@TheSilverFox, @LuminescentAnt @cocteau @FarDusk @winterwolf0100 @Que @TheRebel2007 @Quillfeather @alliyah @lalalucky @Meshugenah @herb @inksthewriter @Spearmint @AlexWrites @soundofmind @Razel
An Apple A Day (Poem A Day)
@TheSilverFox, @LuminescentAnt @cocteau @FarDusk @winterwolf0100 @Que @TheRebel2007 @Quillfeather @lalalucky @Meshugenah @herb @Spearmint @AlexWrites
Community
The Whole Barrel (comment in every thread)
@alliyah (100 comments)
The Daily Dollop (30+ logged comments)
@cocteau & @alliyah (honorable mention to @lalaluck with 27 comments!)
Concentrated Jam (5 comments in a single thread)
@alliyah
Jam Collector (5 Poetry Jams)
@alliyah @cocteau @lalalucky @Meshugenah @spottedpebble @FarDusk @Quillfeather
Recipe Box Prompt Participant
@Spearmint, @Liminality, @AlexWrites, @Hkumar, @alliyah, @cocteau
Contests
PCrewPick Recipient
@Calamity - waking the flowers
@romanticchemist - something firelit in darkness
@lalalucky - restless things
ThePeoplesPick Recipient (shoutout to @Hannah for being our cheerleader this year with the people's picks!)
@herb - homeward/bound to the kennel
@alliyah - when i am holding nothing & holding everything
@kagehana13 - nostalgia and floral perfume
@kagehana13 (again!) - nostalgia and floral perfume
@Roxanne - golden hours filmed in wide-shot focus
@flowersforplath - I have never bitten into anything
@flowersforplath (again!) - I have never bitten into anything
@Rook - Tomatoes bubble off the vine
@Quillfeather - butterfly wings stuck on car grills
@Silvern - & the lighthouse screamed back
April Madness Finalists (thank you to @Quillfeather for organizing, and @Meshugenah, @cocteau, @keystrings, & @alliyah for judging)
@Hannah (2nd Place): for all of us here on the good earth
@Silvern (1st Place): last rites for roadkill
An enormous thank you to everyone who shared their poetry this year, whether it was 1 poem or 50 we appreciate you sharing your hearts and making our jars of poetry that much sweeter!
2026 Links
Badge / Contest Information 2026
2026 Informational Thread
2026 April Madness
2026 Poetry Recipe Box Challenge
2026 Exquisite Corpse Poetry
