April is known to bring many notable events \u2014 the official start of spring, those famous April showers and oftentimes Easter. However, something people might not realize is that April is also National Poetry Month. Originally introduced in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month has allowed April to serve as a way to appreciate and cherish poetry by both writers and readers alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior English major Emma Williams said she has always loved to write. Williams said that for her, poetry is a means of expression and highlighted a quote from one of her favorite poets, Mary Oliver: \u201cIt\u2019s through poetry she found the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really through poetry that, not only do I find myself, but I find God and spirituality,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd I also find the world and am able to dive deeper into what it means to be fully human and what it means to be expressive and to create.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams also said she believes poetry is about processing and becoming and allows her to be more aware and in-tune with her desires and wants, as well as the beauty around her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt allows me to appreciate the world and the people in it,\u201d Williams said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophomore Hannah Faulkner said she enjoys writing both creative fiction and poetry in her free time. Recently, Faulkner won third place in the 2020 Jeanie Dolan Carter Memorial Collegiate Poetry Contest, hosted by the Poets\u2019 Roundtable of Arkansas. The contest was open to all college students from Arkansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPoetry is a great way for me to get the words out of my head that wouldn\u2019t otherwise be easy to express,\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cThere’s something going on in my head constantly. Sometimes I\u2019m anxious and stressed, or sometimes life is just so full and beautiful I just need to write about it, and poetry is a good way to put those abstract concepts into a form that other people will understand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assistant professor of English Paulette Bane helps run Harding\u2019s poetry club, \u201cSouvenirs.\u201d Bane said there is no one way to write poetry, but rather it is a process each person figures out for themselves. She said while there are different forms and styles, each takes the author\u2019s own voice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReading and writing poetry is a process of discovery as you either cope or make sense or just appreciate what it means to be alive,\u201d Bane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To those who might think that they cannot write poetry, Bane said, \u201cWell how do you know? You should try.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also said that just because we celebrate National Poetry Month in April does not mean we cannot celebrate poetry the rest of the year. However, April may just be the perfect time for people to try their own hand at writing and appreciating poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need to widen your idea of what poetry is if you think you can\u2019t do it,\u201d Bane said. \u201cIt\u2019s really something anyone can do and something everyone should do, and it\u2019s just a different form of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For some suggestions on how to get involved, check out the page \u201c30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month\u201d on poets.org. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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