April 28: Favorite Poem Project

Nearly 30 years ago, Robert Pinsky, the 39th Poet Laureate of the US, founded the Favorite Poem Project. When it began, the Project issued a call for Americans from all walks of life to share a favorite poem. The Project was founded on the core belief that poetry belongs to all Americans, and that its audience is not limited to just literary scholars and English professors. Instead, poetry is for everyone.  

 In 1997, the year the Project launched, the response was overwhelming. Over 18,000 Americans wrote letters and emails to the Project sharing a favorite poem and discussing why it was important or meaningful to the person who sent it in. In that first year of responses, every US state was represented and poetry lovers from the ages of 5 to 97 shared their passion for poetry. The following year, in April 1998, the Favorite Poem Project went on the road with a five-city tour of poetry readings introduced by Pinsky himself. Today, the Favorite Poem Project continues to create anthologies, short films, and educational resources to help poetry lovers across the US and around the world celebrate the enduring art of poetry.   

The Favorite Poem Project believes that poetry, at its core, is a vocal art and that poems are meant to be read aloud and savored by the ears of an audience. To help carry on this Project started back in 1997 by Robert Pinksy, and to do our part to help celebrate the art of poetry, University Library (in collaboration with the Departments of English and World Languages and Cultures) is holding its first ever Favorite Poem Project event from 12:15-12:45 p.m., Monday, April 28, on the steps in front of Parks Library. Participants are asked to arrive early to look for a poem and to register to speak.