April is National Poetry Month! To celebrate here at The New York Public Library, thirty of our librarians and other staff members selected a poem. We recorded them each reading the poem and talking about the reason behind their selections.

We will release one poem per day for the entire month of April. We hope you enjoy them and that you find at least one special poem and reader that resonates with you.

For more info, go to www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

30 Days of Poetry

Amid a popular debate over whether today’s young women embrace or reject the word feminist, bestselling author and trans women’s rights activist Janet Mock, Joy Reid, host of MSNBC’s The Reid Report, and Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show and head of Lady Parts Justice, join Mic senior editor Elizabeth Plank for a look at women, advocacy and the millennial generation. What constitutes modern feminism and how is it changing the world? Is celebrity feminism helping or hindering the cause? How has social media shaped the movement into a more equal and democratic space for young women to express themselves? Recorded December 10, 2014 at 92nd Street Y.

Pass the Mic - Millennial Feminism: 92Y Talks Episode 26

Mary Oliver reads from her exquisite collection 'Blue Horses.' Background, poem text, and context here: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02/09/mary-oliver-blue-horses-fourth-sign-of-the-zodiac/

Excerpted from https://soundcloud.com/onbeing/sets/mary-oliver-listening-to-the

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Mary Oliver reads from Blue Horses

Bill Nye is a mechanical engineer, science educator and CEO of the Planetary Society, who hosted the Emmy award-winning show "Bill Nye the Science Guy." After a widely viewed debate in Kentucky with an avowed Bible literalist, Nye has written a primer on the fundamentals of evolution. Emmy-award winning journalist Tom Foreman moderates the discussion on evolution and the science of creation. Recorded December 7, 2014 at 92nd Street Y.

Bill Nye with Tom Foreman: 92Y Talks Episode 29

Aired on All Things Considered, January 28, 2015.

'Little House,' Big Demand: Never Underestimate Laura Ingalls Wilder

Details and poem text: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/16/mark-strand-dreams-collected-poems/

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"Dreams" by Mark Strand read by Maria Popova

NYPL’s Peggy Salwen reads “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket,” a poem by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers.


Find it at NYPL: http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/17370302052907_a_family_of_poems

Music: Podington Bear, “Starling”

More info on The New York Public Library’s 30 Days of Poetry: www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

“Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

NYPL’s Jacqueline Woolcott reads “Annabel Lee,” a poem by Edgar Allan Poe.


Find it at NYPL: https://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/17835271052907_complete_stories_and_poems_of_edgar_allan_poe

Find it online: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174151

Music: Gillicuddy, “Bending the Reed”

More info on The New York Public Library’s 30 Days of Poetry: www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe

NYPL’s Anne Rouyer reads “I Carry Your Heart,” a poem by E.E. Cummings.


Find it at NYPL: http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/17192719052907_selected_poems

Find it online: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/179622

Music: Podington Bear, “Starling”

More info on The New York Public Library’s 30 Days of Poetry: www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

“I Carry Your Heart” by E.E. Cummings

NYPL’s Michelle Misner reads “Lanyard,” a poem by Billy Collins.


Find it at NYPL: http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/17822725052907_the_trouble_with_poetry_and_other_poems

Music: Jahzzar, “Vanlig”

More info on The New York Public Library’s 30 Days of Poetry: www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

“The Lanyard” by Billy Collins

NYPL’s Christopher Platt reads “To Any Reader,” a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.


Find it at NYPL: http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/18265486052907_a_childs_garden_of_verses 

Find it online: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176871 

Music: Gillicuddy, “Springish” 

More info on The New York Public Library’s 30 Days of Poetry: www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

“To Any Reader” by Robert Louis Stevenson

NYPL’s Tony Marx reads “The Writer,” a poem by Richard Wilbur.


Find it at NYPL: http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/18202388052907_collected_poems,_1943-2004 

Find it online: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/writer

Music: Chris Zabriskie, “That Kid in Fourth Grade Who Really Liked the Denver Broncos”

More info on The New York Public Library’s 30 Days of Poetry: www.nypl.org/blog/2015/04/01/30-days-poetry

“The Writer” by Richard Wilbur

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“Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

New York Public Library

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