In the US, the month of April each year is set aside as National Poetry Month.
Initiated in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, publishers, literary organizations, educational organizations, magazines, libraries, publishing associations and book agencies, the world’s largest promotion of poetry celebrates its 25 anniversary this year.
Throughout the month, the academy and its sponsors work with libraries, schools and bookshops across the US to organize poetry recitals and poetry composition contests, with celebrities or celebrated poets in attendance, in addition to giving out poetry books.
The academy also prints 100,000 copies of annual National Poetry Month posters and sends them to libraries and schools.
In the past few years, the designs of the posters — which usually feature poetry or poets — have been selected through high-school design competitions.
For example, this year’s poster was designed by a 12th-grader from a high school in Brooklyn, New York, who also won a US$1,000 prize.
Furthermore, the design competition is a chance to promote an interest in poetry among students at high schools across the US.
The organization and publicity of National Poetry Month promotes poetry reading, recitals and writing in the institutions, schools and libraries across the US.
Not only that, according to statistics, the sales of poetry collections and other poetry works in the country increase by 25 to 35 percent during National Poetry Month, which is a bonus for poets and publishers alike.
In the past few years, in addition to inviting celebrities or famous poets to recite poems, National Poetry Month has also become a time for people to show their goodwill and do charitable deeds.
For example, during National Poetry Month in 1998, a young man raised money to purchase 12,000 editions of a poetry collection by Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Brodsky, and drove across the country to distribute them to hotels for free, so that in addition to the Bible, there were also poems for travelers to read.
Events such as these beget good deeds, and these increase the popularity and sales of poetry.
It is no exaggeration to say that the US every year in April becomes something of a poetry paradise.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many National Poetry Month activities were this year and last year moved online, but the show has gone on.
In Taiwan, poetry books hardly fly off the shelves: Selling 500 or 600 copies of a volume is considered a success.
Although the Ministry of Culture organizes the Taipei Literature Festival, similar events have had limited impact, perhaps because they have tended to be modest-sized book fairs organized by literary groups, rather than collaborations with local libraries or schools.
Therefore, the efforts the Academy of American Poets makes to promote poetry reading and to organize other poetry-related activities are inspiring and worthy of people’s admiration, and something that Taiwanese can learn from.
Poetry, in this information age, might not receive lots of attention, but people can often see its power from the comfort it provides.
It would be wonderful if there were events like National Poetry Month in Taiwan, to bring the nation closer to a poetry paradise.
Wang Hsi-chang is a former reviewer at the National Central Library.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
The ongoing Iran conflict is putting Taiwan’s energy fragility on full display — the island of 23 million people, home to the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing, is highly dependent on imported oil and gas, especially that from the Middle East. In 2025, 69.6 percent of Taiwan’s crude oil and 38.7 percent of liquified natural gas were sourced from the Middle East. In the same year, 62 percent of crude oil and 34 percent of LNG to Taiwan went through the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan’s state-run oil company CPC Corp’s benchmark crude oil price (70 percent Dubai, 30 percent Brent)
RSS