National Poetry Month Reading List
April is National Poetry Month. Since 1996 the Academy of American Poets helps to celebrate poets, poetry, and the integral role in our culture that poetry plays. It also helps to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry. If you are a poet novice, try listening to some talking books for inspiration, attend a poetry reading in your area, or put pen to paper and see what happens!
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs
An epic poem drawn from Norse mythology that tells the tragic story of Norse hero Sigmund, his son Sigurd, and Sigurd's wife Gudrun. 1876.
Book Length: 14 hours, 47 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB104031
P is for Palmetto: A South Carolina Alphabet
P is for Palmetto is a collection of evocative pages of watercolor that covers this beautiful southeastern state from A to Z. Carol Crane captures the diverse features of South Carolina with her flowing verse and solid expository text, while, within the images of Mary Whyte, you can almost envision yourself standing in the vast cotton fields and walking along the sandy shores of its stunning coastline. South Carolinians, young and old, will treasure P is for Palmetto and educators will find its two-tiered teaching format extremely useful in their classrooms. For grades 2-6. Unrated.
Book Length: 25 minutes
Digital Book Number: DBC16488
Synthesizing Gravity Selected Prose
Pulitzer Prize-winner and former United States Poet Laureate presents a collection of thirty-two previously published works of prose. In "I Go to the AWP," she recounts going to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference after spending her entire career to that point avoiding it. 2020.
Book Length: 6 hours, 25 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB100002
Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Includes much of Poe's poetry, a selection of his critical writing on poets and poetry, and a literary-biographical introduction to Poe. For junior and senior high and adult readers.
Book Length: 5 hours, 10 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB016005
Sprints and Distances: Sports in Poetry and the Poetry in Sport
A collection ranging from lighthearted newspaper verse to works by such poets as Wordsworth and Yeats. For grades 5-8 and older sports fans.
Book Length: 2 hours, 52 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB016561
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices
Poems, letters, personal essays, songs, and other works from children's authors such as Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, Andrea Pippins, Sharon Draper, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Ellen Oh. Anthology empowers youth to listen, learn, and build a better tomorrow. Commercial audiobook. For grades 3-6 and up. 2018.
Book Length: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Digital Book Number: DB093035