National Poetry Month Inspires Positivity During Quarantine

Despite Browning’s extended closure, the English Department attempted to keep spirits up by calling on quarantined students and faculty to celebrate National Poetry Month throughout April.

“No matter the circumstances, we hoped poetry could reach the lives and minds of all of our community members,” Anna LaSala-Goettler, the new English teacher and coordinator of this year’s National Poetry Month activities, said.

National Poetry Month has been observed every April since 1996, when it was established by the Academy of American Poets in order to celebrate the role that poets play in American culture and to encourage the use of poetry in the classroom.

Despite the cancellation of in-person events this year due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Academy of American Poets decided to continue the April celebration online, offering people the opportunity to create and submit to the academy audio or video recordings of personal poetry readings. Inspired by this new version of the event, Ms. LaSala-Goettler conceived a school-wide plan both to celebrate National Poetry Month and to help bolster the community during the pandemic. 

Ms. LaSala-Goettler emailed the faculty and the entire student body at the start of each week in April, attaching one or two poems submitted by members of the Browning community. All were then invited to reply with poems of their own.

“Everyone at Browning really seemed to enjoy this event,” Ms. LaSala-Goettler said. “It was very gratifying to receive poetry submissions from students, teachers, and parents alike.”

The English Department hopes that the celebration of National Poetry Month will become a tradition, even once the coronavirus crisis has passed and life at the School and around the world has resumed its normal rhythms.

“I was so pleased with the participation and energy to celebrate,” Ms. LaSala-Goettler said. “We do hope to keep up this tradition in years to come, learning from this year and this context, inviting new voices to share, and finding more words to connect us.”