ARTSPEAK RADIO Celebrates National Poetry Month

ARTSPEAK RADIO, Wednesday, April 7, 2021, 90.1fm KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live audio www.kkfi.org

Producer/host Maria Vasquez Boyd celebrates April as National Poetry Month with a stanza of poets. Featured poets include; José Faus, Waco Porter, Erin Adair Hodges, Octavio Quintanilla, Andrew McIlvaine, Miguel Morales, Sarah Chavez, Perry Shephard, and MaryFrances Wagner.

National Poetry Month
Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and, of course, poets, marking poetry’s important place in our lives. In 2021, the Academy of American Poets looks forward to celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of this annual celebration!

Each April, the Academy offers activities, initiatives, and resources so that anyone can join in National Poetry Month online and at home:
• Order (for free) and display the official 2021 National Poetry Month poster featuring lines by Joy Harjo
• Read about 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month online and at home
• Read about 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month in the virtual classroom
• Join the Academy of American Poets for its first-ever virtual Poetry & the Creative Mind gala on April 29
• Find online poetry readings and events on our Poetry Near You calendar, and add your own
• Encourage students in grades 5 – 12 to participate in the 2021 Dear Poet Project
• Sign up for Poem-a-Day and enjoy a free daily poem in your inbox, this month curated by award-winning poet Jane Hirshfield
• Follow the thousands of celebrations taking place on social media with the official hashtag #NationalPoetryMonth and follow the Academy of American Poets on Twitter and Instagram @POETSorg
• Share a #pocketpoem on Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 29

www.poets.org/national-poetry-month

JOSÉ FAUS is a native of Bogota, Colombia and a long-time Kansas City resident. He is a visual artist, performer, writer and teacher. He received degrees in Studio Art/Painting and Creative Writing/Journalism from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He has been involved in a series of mural projects locally and internationally and participated in a variety of community engagement projects.
He won the Poets & Writers Maureen Egen Writers Exchange contest for the state of Kansas. He received a Rocket Grant for the community project VOX NARRO. He is a founding member of the Latino Writers Collective and sits on the boards of UMKC Friends of the Library and is president of the board of The Writers Place.

WACO PORTER was born in Galveston, TX in 1974 and raised by the Marines. He met his wife in 1996 and has not looked back. She and his daughters have reinvigorated his pen and have been the backbone of his writing. They are the anchor for his wandering mind. Waco uses poetry to get a clear image of what he sees. When he is not writing, Waco likes to swim, bike, run, and ride around the city looking for pancakes. Thoughts on life? In his own words: youngest of four, only boy, daddy’s son, mama’s joy.

He serves as board vice president of Jump Start Art KC.

Jump Start Art is organized by artists and lovers of art to mentor emerging creatives with encouragement and connections to community resources in theater, visual arts, literary art, spoken word, music, and dance, recording demos, publishing written works, and performance/exhibition opportunities.

www.jumpstrartartkc.org

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