April is National Poetry Month. Whether you are a poet, writer, reader, homeschooler, teacher, parent or poetry lover, you will want some good poetry internet links to help you explore, expand and enjoy poetry more. Perhaps you’ve always felt an inner nudging to write or read more poetry? Or maybe you’ve written a bit of poetry but feel some diffidence about sharing it? Wouldn’t this be an excellent time to allow your inner poet a little fresh air? I’ve compiled a selection of poetry resources for you to pack in your writer’s toolbox as you set foot or continue on your poet’s journey.
CPR is a ‘must-bookmark’ site to get us underway. Contemporary Poetry Review at http://cprw.com/links.htm is a massive online catalog cum warehouse of poetry resources. CPR is neatly organized and user-friendly. It isn’t clogged up with irrelevant advertising. CPR is scholarly and pragmatic. You will find poetry venues, anthologies, ebooks, forums, author submission links, poetry societies, magazines, indexes, author search, reference guides and much more. Allow yourself plenty of time to peruse CPR.
Another fine literary source Jean-Michel Maulpoix et Cie at http://www.maulpoix.net/websites.html Jean-Michel Maulpoix focuses exclusively on 20th century poets, but I really like the way that poets are culled from around the world.
SparkNotes.com at http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/ is another essential for the poet and poetry lover. SparkNotes specializes in critical analysis and literary lessons. You will find free printable information and activities based on the poetry of many well-known poets. Read well-known works by Margaret Atwood, William Blake, Dante, John Donne, Homer, Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, Tennyson, TS Eliot, Chaucer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, William Butler Yeats, Shakespeare and more.
For younger poets a visit to Poetry 4 Kids at http://www.poetry4kids.com/links.html is a must. Another well-organized, user-friendly website, Poetry 4 Kids has just about everything the budding poet will need. Forums, poetry contests, online rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, poetry templates, how to write lessons, free printable poetry activities, poetry starters, poetry analysis, humor poetry, history, help links, reference search to name a few of the resources. Poetry 4 Kids is a great lesson plan website also.
For more great writing resources, tips and venues, visit me at www.thewritersgarden.blogspot.com . For more free lesson plans visit www.freeprintablelessonplans.blogspot.com and www.freelessonplans4u.blogspot.com . And for more free printable activities, visit www.freeprintableactivities.blogspot.com
