Announcing the 6th Annual February Poetry Project
Happy 2018, poets and poetry lovers. Before you know it, February will be here.That's right. It’s almost time for our annual daily writing workout.A little history: For four years, my blog hosted a community poetry project.
- In 2013, I celebrated my birthday month by writing every day in response to vintage postcards. I mailed the postcards, with their response poems, out to people by request. (Find the list of postcard poems here.)
- In 2014, fourteen poets wrote 144 poems about Pantone paint colors. (Find the list of Pantone poems here.)
- 2015’s project was writing in response to sounds. Fourteen writers participated and we wrote 177 original poems. (Find the list of sound poems here.)
- I was unprepared for the response our project had in 2016. The theme was found objects. Twenty-eight poets wrote 346 poems in the month of February. (Find the list of found object poems here.)
Last year, the project moved to a closed Facebook group to accommodate our growing community of about 60 poets.
- The 2017 project theme, 10 Words Found in the News, helped us create beauty, humor, and satire in response to current events. This prompt worked so well that, when February was over, we continued to write 10 Words in the News poems throughout the year.
This year, we're heading back to the project's visual-prompt roots.
2018 Theme: Ekphrastic At-homeThe theme of this year’s project is ekphrastic poetry (writing in response to works of art), but with a twist. Poet Ann Haman suggested that we write in response to art pieces owned by members of the group.Beginning January 31, a group member will post a photograph of a work of art (loosely interpreted) from their home collection. Art pieces might include paintings, sculptures, kids' creations, photographs, or beautiful oddities. There will be a sign-up in the group's files for those who'd like to be in charge of a daily writing prompt.Special thanks to Kip Rechea, a past participant who will be acting as a group moderator and providing some administrative help.IMPORTANT NOTE FOR PROJECT NEWBIES: As always, the point of this exercise is to practice the habit of writing regularly, even if it’s just for one month. Members of the project post response poems the same day so that we can focus on generating ideas and giving positive feedback, rather than polishing for publication.Interested in joining us? You can request to join the closed 6th Annual February Daily Poem Project here.