Bring on OTB’s Poem Recitation Challenge 2015!

April 1st marks the start of National Poetry Month, and to commemorate it, we’re rolling out a month-long initiative to have as many people as possible put to memory and perform their favorite poems – ones that inspire and delight, that have somehow made an impact.

Why learn a poem by heart? We’ll let Robert Pinsky explain:

A certain kind of knowledge comes from following the dance between sentences and lines as they coincide or pull against one another, in a shifting multitude of ways and degrees….The energy of a poem becomes more clear as you assimilate it into your memory, feeling it in your voice.¹

Why not spend a little time each day learning the “dance” of your favorite poem and share it with us?

Keep us posted as you pick your poems. We can’t wait for a fresh crop of videos!

Need more info? Check out our mission statement and uploading process for the Youtube archive.

¹ Pinsky, Robert. Singing School: Learning to Write (and Read) Poetry By Studying With the Masters. W. W. Norton & Co., 2013. Print. 75.