National Poetry Month Beckons

April and the celebration of National Poetry Month is just around the corner. To help booksellers prepare, this week Book Sense unveils the Spring 2008 Poetry Top Ten, title recommendations from independent bookstores nationwide. The list is a wonderful complement to the dozens of resources -- including the official National Poetry Month poster -- provided by the Academy of American Poets. (A copy of the poster was mailed to ABA member bookstores at the end of February, and additional copies may be downloaded from the Academy's website, www.poets.org.)

The site also features extensive tips for booksellers on marketing, merchandising, events, and more contributed by other independent bookstores, including The Booksmith in San Francisco; Prairie Lights in Iowa City, Iowa; Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi; and Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, Colorado.

Among the marketing tips to lead fiction lovers to the poetry section, the site recommends creating "If you like..." shelf talkers for novelists who are also poets -- for example, Louise Erdrich, Raymond Carver, Annie Dillard, Michael Ondaatje, and Barbara Kingsolver. Other ideas include photocopying a different poem for each day in April and distributing them as bag-stuffers, sponsoring poetry contests for children, and hosting a poetry panel or workshop. The Academy also suggests that booksellers ask reps to donate books and materials, as well as inquire about co-op promotions.

This week, the Academy launched a mobile archive providing free, direct access to its entire collection of more than 2,500 poems, as well as hundreds of biographies and essays. It's hoping that poetry lovers nationwide will use it to find a poem to celebrate the first "Poem In Your Pocket Day" on April 17. To participate, all anyone needs to do is select a poem they love then carry it with them to share with co-workers, family, and friends on April 17. The Academy envisions that "poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout the day with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores." For ideas to promote "Poem in Your Pocket Day" and more, visit www.poets.org.