There is Nothing "April Foolish" about National Poetry Month


Today is April Fool's Day, but we aren't playing a practical joke when we say we are kicking off the month and celebrating National Poetry Month throughout the month of April. National Poetry Month was founded in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. This April marks the 20th-Anniversary celebration of National Poetry Month. Today, we are acknowledging poets who were born in the month of April. What an amazing month of celebration for poetry. 

Although we don't know the exact date of birth for William Shakespeare, it is believed that he was born in 1564. If you are a poet born in April, we are wishing you an amazing celebratory month!

John Wilmot
April 1, 1647

Edmond Rostand 
April 1, 1868

Gil Scott-Heron
April 1, 1949

Viorel Muresan
April 1, 1953

George Herbert 
April 3, 1593

Edith Södergran
April 4, 1892

Maya Angelou
April 4, 1928
Algernon Charles Swinburne
April 5, 1837

Iulian Ciocan
April 6, 1968

William Wordsworth
April 7, 1770

Gabriela Mistral
April 7, 1889

Nichita Danilov
April 7, 1952

Charles Pierre Baudelaire
April 9, 1821

George William Russell
April 10, 1867

Norman Dubie
April 10, 1945

Mark Strand
April 11, 1934

Seamus Justin Heaney
April 13, 1939

Ioan T. Morar
April 13, 1956

Anatole France 
April 16, 1844

Tristan Tzara
April 16, 1896

Sir Kingsley William Amis
April 16, 1922

Grigore Chiper
April 16, 1959

Henry Vaughan
April 17, 1622

Etheridge Knight
April 19, 1931

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov
April 22, 1899

Louise Elisabeth Glück
April 22, 1943

Ion Cristofor
April 22, 1952

Charles Edward Anson Markham
April 23, 1852
Carl Spitteler
April 24, 1845

Robert Penn Warren
April 24, 1905

George Oppen
April 24, 1908

Walter de la Mare
April 25, 1873

Jay Anthony Lukas
April 25, 1933

Ted Kooser
April 25, 1939

Cecil Day-Lewis
April 27, 1904

Carolyn Forché
April 28, 1950

Yusef Komunyakaa
April 29, 1941
John Crowe Ransom
April 30, 1888
Robert Browning
April 30, 1942

Annie Dillard
April 30, 1945

Happy National Poetry Month!

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