Banned Poetry, Poetry Projects, and TRR Update- Oh My!

Happy Poetry Friday! I hope you're just as excited as I am for the outpouring of poetry glee that's taking place this month! Today, we're hosted by Matt Forrest Esenwine over at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Thanks Matt!.

Today, I'd like to call your attention to some banned poetry to explore and love:

This list, curated in 2024 by the fabulous Padma Venkatraman, highlights some of my personal favorite books.

This PBS video of The Hill We Climb, read and written by Amanda Gorman for President Biden's inauguration, will remind you of why we fight for a better world.

This Shopping List of banned poetry books, compiled by and supported the incredible Grolier Poetry Book Shop, will help you discover treasures old and new.

But let's not stop there! There's also incredible poetry about book banning.

This incredible slam poem-- "Book Banning" by Lian at the Teen Poetry Slam Finals 2024.

This moving poem-- "Banned: A Poem" by teen poet Libby S.

This defiant nonet-- "The Title of This Poem Has Been Censored" by Phyllis Cole-Dai

And while we're talking about banned books... if you haven't already, please check out the work that Authors Against Banned Books is doing to fight censorship. They rock!

And now for some Poetry Project Process updates! I'll be updating you all on these projects every Friday in April. Drumroll please...

Poetry Month Project: This month, I'm writing at least 20 poems inspired by photos/images of history and/or science that the current administration is trying to wipe from our records. I've spent the time since April 1 in the prewriting stage-- searching databases, comparing old versions of government pages with current pages, and making folders of images that could inspire poems. I'll keep gathering for a few more days, and start writing next week.

Bonus Goal 1: Poetry Picture Book Concept Draft: I'd like to draft of at least 5 poems + an outline of the manuscript this month to see if it holds up to a 22-28 poem length project. Not yet started.

Bonus Goal 2: Poetry Picture Book Revision: Recently shifted the focus of the collection and cut a whole lot of poems. I'd like to draft at least 5 new poems for this collection. Not yet started.

And finally, if you're curious on how my Trans Right Readthon went... here's my stack of completed books! I raised $164 for the Transgender Law Center. Woohoo! And, if you're looking to read some poetry by a trans person this month... I highly recommend Masculinity Parable by Myles Taylor, which examines the idea of non-toxic masculinity from a transmasc perspective. You can buy a copy direct from the publisher here. Happy reading!

Stack of books for all ages that I read for the Trans Rights Readathon. The stack includes (bottom to top): Picture Books You Need to Chill, In My Daddy's Belly, Marley's Pride, My Sister Daisy, If You're a Kid Like Gavin, and Not He or She, I'm Me. Middle Grade book Ink Girls. YA Books The Forbidden Book, Lunar Boy, Becoming Who We Are, and Bitter. Books marketed for adults Masculinity Parable and Queen of the Conquered.