Celebrate National Poetry Month & Become A Book Spine Poet!

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidyuweb

April is a month absolutely bursting with celebrations! We frequently associate April with events like April Fools' Day, Earth Day, and the beginning of spring.  However, April also happens to be National Humor Month, International Guitar Month, & National Welding Month! 
Here at NCS, we are especially excited that April is also National Poetry Month! 


To acknowledge this month-long celebration of verse, the NCS Library is challenging everyone in our community to become book spine poets!

What in the world is book spine poetry?

 

Book spine poetry appeared in pop culture back in 1993 through American artist Nina Katchadourian’s 'Sorted Books' project in which she grouped books from various collections into clusters so that the titles on their spines could be read in from top to bottom as a sentence. The concept was further adapted by critic and writer Maria Popova who featured the idea of creating short poems from the spines of arranged book piles on her blog ‘Brain Pickings.’ 

Check out these examples of book spine poetry!

 

'Akron Stacks'-Sorted Books project by Nina Katchadourian

 

'The Spark of Love'-- BrainPickings.org by Maria Popova

If you'd like to look at further examples, check out this article on BookRiot.org or the galleries of book sprine poetry on Travis Jonker's blog 100 Scope Notes. 

 Interested in becoming a book spine poet? 

• Find some books!  You can use books from home, from a friend's home, from a public library, from the NCS Library, etc.
• Arrange the books into a stack so that the titles on the spines can be read from top to bottom as a short poetic sequence.  Arrange and rearrange books until you create YOUR poem!
• Snap a photo of your poem and email it to ncs.bkspinepoems@gmail.com.  Please include your name and your poem's title (if you wish to title it) in the email.
• Watch for your poem here on the blog and on the display screen in the NCS Library's display area!
• In May, students will vote for their favorite poems from the entries and the winners will receive exciting prizes!

We look forward to seeing your poetic book spine creations!