New Title Puts Poems in Every Pocket

In anticipation of next month's celebrations of National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day, on April 30, the Academy of American Poets and Abrams Image have partnered to offer an ideal title for poetry lovers of all stripes: Poem in Your Pocket, a hardcover whose interior pages are a pad of 200 poems that can be peeled off to go in your pocket or someone else's.

The collection, edited by former Academy coordinator Elaine Bleakney, ranges from Shakespeare to Sharon Olds and includes a healthy representation of contemporary poets such as Dean Young, Matthea Harvey, Kevin Young, and Olena Kalytiak Davis. An introduction to the collection by Poet Laureate Kay Ryan notes that poetry "leave[s] you in the fullest possible possession of your self while simultaneously providing the intimate escape from self." Poems are organized according to themes, including "Love & Rockets," "Dwellings," and "Friends & Ghosts."

A one-sheet on Poem in Your Pocket, which retails at $14.95, was included in the March Red Box mailing to ABA member stores.

Poem in Your Pocket Day, which began in New York City in 2002, has grown into a national event that encourages people to share poetry in the workplace, schools, libraries, and everywhere else.

Resources and materials to help booksellers promote Poem in Your Pocket Day as well as Poetry Month, are available on the Academy of American Poets website, www.poets.org. Among their suggestions:

• Posting pocket-sized verses around the bookstore
• Handwrite some lines on the back of business cards
• Start a street team to pass out poems in your community
• Distribute bookmarks with your favorite immortal lines
• Add a poem to your e-mail footer
• Post a poem on your blog or social networking page
• Project a poem on a wall, inside or out
• Text a poem to friends

Stores are encouraged to share their ideas for Poem in Your Pocket Day by sending an e-mail to npm@poets.org or via a form on the Academy website.

Booksellers can also request "Is That a Poem in Your Pocket?" buttons and signage from Abrams Image by contacting Marketing Manager Kerry Liebling.-Karen Schechner