National Poetry Month at the Library

April is National Poetry Month and the San Marcos Public Library is celebrating with an array of events for poetry lovers of all ages and skill levels. 

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and over the years, it has become one of the largest literary celebrations nationwide with schools, writers, libraries and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in culture and history. 

This will be the fourth year the library has celebrated National Poetry Month by putting together a host of events that enable San Marcans to celebrate poetry through reading, writing and learning about the art form and by participating in a month-long haiku contest that culminates in the naming of two local Haiku Laureates.

The San Marcos Public Library Haiku Contest is a month-long competition, that began April 1, between San Marcans. Participants can submit up to three haikus in collection boxes located at various locations around the community as well as the library. New this year, library card holders can also check out haiku canisters when hosting events at their home, place of business or other otherwise. Boxes can be returned within seven days or before April 30, to be entered into the contest.

Library staff will collect all boxes on the last day in April and the haikus will be sent to a panel of librarians to judge the poems and contact winners in early May. Two winners will be named — one for the 12 and under category and one for the teen/adult category. Winners will receive the title of 2018 San Marcos Haiku Laureate and their work and story will be published in the San Marcos Daily Record.

In addition to the competition, the library is hosting a Wildflower Haiku Hike at Spring Lake Preserve, 685 Lime Kiln Rd., this Saturday, April 13 at 9 a.m. Participants will be guided through haiku writing during a walking tour through the preserve that is in full bloom for spring. Local artist and poet Michael Hannon will lead the hike. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and shoes as well as bring a notebook and writing utensil. 

The library will also be hosting a poetry writing workshop on Tuesday, April 16 at 6 p.m. with Hannon. He will discuss the history of quatrains in English, Persian, Arabic and Chinese poetry traditions, then attendees will have the opportunity to write their own verses. 

Hannon said he wanted to conduct a poetry workshop that made poetry accessible, instead of unapproachable or obtuse. That is where the quatrain format comes in.

“I wanted to work with quatrains because the only real requirement of quatrains is that it be in four lines,” Hannon said. “They don’t even have to be isometric – meaning all the same length of line – they often are, but don’t have to be and they also often are not. They don’t have to rhyme, but they can. They don’t have to be in meter, but they can. So I think that makes it flexible enough for anyone to use and it’s also a form that is very widely used.” 

The final event the library will be hosting for National Poetry Month is Poetry in the Cemetery on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. at the San Marcos Cemetery underneath the pavilion. Attendees can bring their original works or are welcome to read pieces from their favorite poets. The San Marcos Cemetary is located at 1001 Ranch Road 12. This event will be led by San Marcos Public Library National Poetry Month Organizer E. D. Watson.

Watson said she is excited about the library’s lineup of events because she sees them as a disruption of the social barriers that sometimes surround poetry – that it is by nature flowery, dense or highbrow.

“I think sometimes in our culture, especially in this time, in particular, there’s this idea that poetry is arcane or hard to understand and it’s only for certain people,” Watson said. “And I love that the library celebrates National Poetry Month because I think we kind of work to break down those barriers so that people can see that poetry can be this a beautiful thing to participate in and nobody’s judging you, it’s just for you.”

Registration isn’t required for any of the National Poetry Month events. For more information on any of these events, call the San Marcos Public Library at 512- 393-8200.