This April, Georgia Southern University will be participating in the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) project for its third year, giving students the opportunity to channel their inner Hemingway, or Dr. Seuss, for an entire month.

The NaPoWriMo project was founded in 2003 by a poet named Maureen Thorson. It is an annual project that encourages people to write a poem each day for the month of April.

“April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate poets around the world write a poem a day for the month of April. 30 days, 30 poems. The poems can be of any length, from pieces of an epic to haiku to one-line mono-stitches. The poems don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be,” Emma Bolden, creative writing professor, said.

The project is open to all GSU students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Students can submit their work by sending an email to the organizer of the NaPoWriMo project, Bolden said.

Bolden will send students an invitation allowing them to post on the group blog: GSUNaPoWriMo. Students who choose not to post can still follow the blog, or write their poems without posting it publicly.

“I think that working daily towards poetry helps us to remember that poetry can be fun. It helps us remember that poetry is a way of existing more presently in our own worlds and in our own lives. Really, more than anything, I hope to see people enjoy themselves and nurture their love for the written word,” Bolden said.

Bolden is excited about the amount of participation for this event. There have already been several people reaching out to her about participating.

“I’m thrilled to say that I’ve already heard from several people who want to participate. I’ll be participating in the project myself,” Bolden said.

Kerry James Evans is a published poet and former soldier who had a reading at GSU last Thursday. He read from his book “Bangalore,” which contains poems detailing issues of inequality in the South, marriage, and his experience as a soldier in the military .

“I thought poetry was all about love and butterflies. I didn’t know I could write about things I went through, where I’m from, what I’ve done,” said Evans

Other events will be taking place throughout the month and will include: a poetry reading on April 2 by poet Marilyn Nelson in the College of Engineering & Information Technology building, room 1004, at 7 p.m., a reading by poet Sandra Beasley at 7 p.m. in CEIT room 1005, and an International Poetry Night in CEIT room 1005 on April 10.

There will be a Burning Swamp Reading Series reading in the Walnut Room at Chops, time and date to be announced.

The Department of Writing and Linguistics will also hold its annual Senior Reading, a celebration of the work of our graduating students in every field of writing, on April 24 at 7 p.m.