National Poetry Month is a celebration of the importance of poetry in our culture and lives. Founded by the Academy of American Poets, it aims to:

• highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets,
• encourage the reading of poems,
• assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms,
• increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media,
• encourage increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and
• encourage support for poets and poetry.

You can see which events are taking place or what people on saying on Twitter using #npm15.

Although an American event, if you want to learn more about how poetry is celebrated in the UK, have a look on the Poetry Society’s website.

Furthermore, why not check out the vast range of poetry we have available in the library, including:

• American poetry at 811
• English poetry at 821
• German poetry at 831
• French poetry at 841
• Italian poetry at 851

We also have databases that have a comprehensive amount of poetry, including LION, where you can search or browse by author or text to find the full text of poems.

You can also see clips of poets reading their own works and the works of others. Goldsmiths’ own Blake Morrison reads his own poetry here. There’s also an audio archive of poets reading their works too.

Why not take a short break from your studies and discover some new poetry?