National Poetry Month, Texas Style!

Poetry…in Texas?! YES!

If poetry isn’t exactly the first thing you think about when you think “Texas,” you’re missing out on a big chunk of Texas culture. If you enjoy poetry, I’ll bet you recognize a few of the names listed at Texas State Poets Laureate | Texas Commission on the Arts.

Join us! If you live in Texas – or if you have ever lived in Texas – and are interested in reading and writing poetry or supporting the work of living poets in Texas, please consider joining The Poetry Society of Texas | A member of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Inc. – just click Join PST from the main menu at the upper right. The Poetry Society of Texas’ mission is “to secure fuller public recognition of the art of poetry, to encourage the writing of poetry by Texans, and to kindle a finer and more intelligent appreciation of poetry, especially the work of living poets who interpret the spirit and heritage of Texas.”

Each month (except when we are on summer break) we meet via Zoom – so even poets in the most remote parts of the state can easily attend – and each month, we feature a member Spotlight Poet and a Program Speaker. Last month, we were treated to a brief reading by Fred Manchester and a marvelous program by our 61st Poet Laureate, Amanda Johnston. In April, our Spotlight Poet is PST’s Vice President, Michael Guinn, and our Program Speaker is the current Texas Poet Laureate, Kevin Prufer.

Michael Guinn is a  social worker turned activist who now uses the power of spokenword storytelling to share truth & transparency in a courageous display healing and inspiration. He holds a masters degree in Social Work and has become an internationally renowned award winning Spoken Word artist/actor/poet and workshop presenter. Michael is also a voting member of the recording academy and the NAACP image awards.

Kevin Prufer’s newest books are The Fears (Copper Canyon Press, 2023), winner of the 2024 Rilke Prize, and Sleepaway: a Novel (Acre Books, 2024), a finalist for the Society of Midland Authors Award. Among his eight other books are Churches, which was named one of the best ten books of 2015 by The New York Times, and How He Loved Them, which was long-listed for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the Julie Suk Award for the best poetry book from the American literary press.   Prufer’s work appears widely in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, The Paris Review, and Poetry, among others.   He is the 2026 Texas Poet Laureate and Professor of English at The University of Houston, where he also directs The Unsung Masters Series, a book series devoted to rediscovering great, long forgotten authors.  His next books are Good People: Poems (Copper Canyon, 2027) and the novel Summer of Shooting Stars (Slant Books, 2028).

We (I say “we” as both a member of PST and its current President) are a member of the larger community of state poetry societies – the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). If you are not in Texas, click National Federation of State Poetry Societies – State Poetry Societies to find your state’s poetry society (or get information on forming one, if your state does not currently have one – as a few states do not).

National / Global Poetry Writing Month

“…This will be our twenty-third year! It’s somewhat sobering to think that if Na/GloPoWriMo were a person, it would already be old enough to drive, vote, drink, and probably have its own apartment…”

As if I weren’t already feeling old. If you have a blog (and there’s still time to start one!) and want to participate in this venerable poetric tradition, head on over to submit your site and add it. Then post a poem a day throughout April. This should be a cinch for those of us participating in the year-long poem-a-day Stafford Challenge, right? Hah. We’ll see.

A to Z Blogging Challenge

Why not add to the challenge and fun? Sign up for the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge: 2026 and tell them I sent you (when you sign up, there’s a spot for “Who referred you?” – don’t worry, I don’t get paid and there’s no bounty! But there is a deadline: Sign up by April 4 or you won’t be included in the list.) What is it, you ask? See April Blogging from A to Z Challenge: WHAT IS BLOGGING FROM A TO Z? for the full history – this challenge is ALMOST as old as Na/GloPoWriMo, but just now old enough to drive. It’s a great way to meet others who are into the same kinds of things you are – there’s a spreadsheet of bloggers, blogs, and topics and everyone is encouraged to leave comments on others’ posts. YES, PLEASE DON’T BE SHY – comments encourage bloggers (indeed, most writers) to keep writing and sharing their work!

I’ve signed up (again). Let’s see if I can make it through the whole alphabet this year. Trust me when I say that no one’s going to beat you, ridicule you, or ostracize you from the writing, blogging, or poetry world if you don’t manage it. Life comes first! (After all, life is what gives us things to write about, right?)

Other National Poetry Month Posts

• National Poetry Month, Texas Style!
• Apricots: a Tanka Encompassing Three Prompts
• Bee Sting: Day 2 of National Poetry Month
• Cacophony and CBD: Day 3 in Nonsense Verse and Found Poetry
• Technically, a Writer: Day 3 of National Poetry Month
• Dive: Day 4 of National Poetry Month
• Storm Front: Day 4 of National Poetry Month
• Energized: Day 5 of National Poetry Month
• Grump: Day 5 ½ of National Poetry Month
• Future Frittered Away: Day 6 of National Poetry Month
• Hell, Hell, Hell: Day 7 (More or Less) of National Poetry Month
• Insomnia: Day 8 of National Poetry Month
• Juxtaposition: Day 9 of National Poetry Month
• Knife Edge: Day 10 of National Poetry Month
• Lost a Day: Day 11 of National Poetry Month
• Many Definitions: Day 12 of National Poetry Month
• New Form – Quadrille Quaiku: Day 13 of National Poetry Month
• Ode to Imagination: Day 14 of National Poetry Month
• Pixellated People: Day 15 of National Poetry Month

Your Turn!

Comments here are meant to be conversational. I don’t want to twist your arm, but I do want you to know that as long as you’re not a spammer, your comments are always welcome here. I’d love to know a little bit more about you.

How did you find this blog? Are you a long-time reader? Did you stumble across a link somewhere? Did you land here from a search engine? (Please don’t tell me you were just looking for ways to answer your Samsung Galaxy mobile phone – I might cry! Well, I won’t cry if you stick around, comment, and bookmark this blog!

Do you have a blog? Feel free to leave a link. (Either with your name and email address or in the body of the comment, or both.) If you have never left a comment here before, it may take a bit longer for your comment to appear, as the “bouncer” will hold it in moderation for review. But don’t worry – I read and review every comment, and provided you’re human and not hawking drugs, gambling, knock-off goods, and so forth, I’ll allow it. I have a strong bias towards humans and bloggers who aren’t out to make money doing nothing, in their sleep. Will you be participating – either as a writer or a reader – in Na/GloPoWriMo or the Blogging A to Z Challenge?

Do you write poetry? Do writing prompts – for poetry or any other kind of writing – inspire you or leave you cold? Any other thoughts about prompts?