Book Give-Aways for National Poetry Month

Today, April 1, begins the start of National Poetry Month. To celebrate, I'm joining a fabulous group of other poet-bloggers who plan to give-away two collections of poetry of my choice to two lucky people. (Go here to find out where I learned about this initiative; then, if you wish to join others who are giving away volumes of poetry, go here for some guidelines created by Kelli Russell Agodon. Agodon plans to create a master list of links to all the poet-bloggers participating in the celebration.)

The books I will give away are new copies of Best New Poets: 50 Poems from Emerging Writers (edited by Kim Addonizio) and 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by the wonderful Naomi Shihab Nye. I will pay the postage.

Here's the deal: Anyone who leaves a comment on this post will be eligible for a random drawing for Best New Poets. You must comment here by April 30.

For the second giveaway, of Nye's 19 Varieties of Gazelle, I plan to do something a bit different: Between now and April 28, I will publish a number of poetry-related items, such as my continuing features on state Poets Laureate and examples of work of poets I particularly admire or have recently learned about. On April 30, I will post a challenge that will ask you to answer a few questions about content in a selection of those posts. The first person who responds by 5:00 p.m., April 30, with all-correct answers to the quiz will receive the second book of poetry.

Both winners will be announced in a May 3 post.

I will publish a sneak-peek at one of the give-away collections later this month.

Have fun, read for enjoyment, and find out why poetry, like art, can be like a "sweet unconscious prayer".*


About the Quote

* Art is a sweet unconscious prayer. ~ Artist James A. Mangum

Mangum — known as the "Saintmaker from Shinerville" — is an award-winning folk artist and novelist who lives in Shiner, Texas. He is the author of The Vinegaroon Murders, which received the 2006 Violet Crown for Best Work of Fiction from the Writers' League of Texas; Dead and Dying Angels; and, with Sidney Spires, The Fairy and the Chupacabra and Those Marfa Lights, a children's fable also illustrated by Mangum.

Resources

Transcript of Naomi Shihab Nye's interview with Bill Moyers

Video of Kim Addonizio discussing her writing