World Poetry Day was proposed and adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999 and is celebrated every year on March 21st. This day intends to restore poetic expression and encourage the celebration of poetry. The most common ways to celebrate include writing a poem, visiting a poetry museum, and hosting or attending a poetry slam.

  By writing a poem, one is choosing a good way to promote the day. There are several poems to choose from, but one can go with the more common, short poems – haiku and acrostic poems. A haiku is a Japanese poem that consists of seventeen syllables in total. To create the poem, one needs to have one stanza with three lines, where the first and third line has five syllables and the second line has seven. An acrostic poem is where the letters of the focus word are used to start each line of the poem and are written on the left side of the poem.

  Then, if someone wants to visit a museum, they can educate themselves with the history of poetry. One museum someone can go to is the American Poetry Museum in Washington, D.C. This building is dedicated to celebrating poetry and spreading information. This museum has special exhibits that they offer to help others learn about famous poets and they host events. In addition, they offer workshops for patrons to learn even more about poetry. 

  Lastly, by assembling other people and friends who enjoy literature to create a poetry slam, one is embracing poetry with the people they care about in a safe space. Attending a poetry slam allows one to expand their literary skills and introduce themselves to different forms of ideas and poetry. A local poetry slam that one can visit to celebrate the day is Words Unspoken on April 7th from 7 to 8 PM at Garner Performing Arts Center. While these are the more common techniques that numerous people use, a handful of people would do other things to celebrate World Poetry Day.

  Freshman Josiah Saravia says, “I celebrate this day by writing poems and sharing poems.” By writing and sharing poems Josiah is given the opportunity to inspire others and receive feedback. On the contrary, sophomore Jada Little states, “I usually write poetry for my creative writing class and it challenges my mind and encourages me to do better. So, instead of writing a poem for World Poetry Day, I read other people’s poems.” When Jada reads other people’s poems, she is helping the individual improve, and she is learning from their poetry. In addition to Josiah and Jada doing something a little different for World Poetry Day, sophomore Josie Dunnivan states, “During World Poetry Day, I read poetry from my favorite authors.” While doing something seemingly simple, Josie is celebrating world poetry day in her own way. 

  Whether writing a poem, sharing a poem, reading a poem, visiting the American Poetry Museum, or hosting a poetry slam, World Poetry Day is to be expressed and celebrated by everyone –  anytime, anywhere.