Poem-a-Day - Poems for Hispanic Heritage Month

September 2021

Poems for National Hispanic Heritage Translation Month

September 15—October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and to celebrate, browse the following poems:

“Translation for Mamá” by Richard Blanco
“notes on the seasons” by Raquel Salas Rivera
“We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born” by Oscar Gonzales
“Maps” by Yesenia Montilla
“Lunch Break” by Francisco Aragón

Browse lesson plans for National Hispanic Heritage Month, featuring work by A da Limón, Francisco X. Alarcón, Juan Felipe Herrera and many other classic and contemporary poets.

Take a look at our new 2021-2022 Poetry in the Classroom Calendar, a downloadable, interactive PDF designed to inspire ideas for teaching poetry throughout each month, with links to related lesson plans, activities, and other resources.

Stay Tuned for a Special Announcement Next Week

The judges of the 2022 National Poetry Month Poster Contest for Students will be announced next week, and the submissions window will open to students living in the United States, U.S. Territories, or Tribal Nations who are in grades 9 through 12.

One winning student’s artwork will be printed on 100,000+ copies of the official April 2022 poster, which will be distributed for free to classrooms, libraries, bookstores, community centers, families, and individuals nationwide, and viewed by millions of people during next year’s annual celebration. The winning student will be featured on Poets.org and in American Poets magazine, and will receive $1,000 in cash and prizes. A runner-up will also be selected by the contest judges and receive $250.

The 2021 poster contest winner was twelfth grader Bao Lu from Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, New York, whose artwork was selected by renowned illustrator Maira Kalman and New York Times-bestselling YA author and poet Renée Watson. Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2022 poster contest judges, as well as more details about the submission guidelines and timeline, coming next week!

Young Poets in the Community

Virginia Poet Laureate Luisa A. Igloria invites applications from young poets throughout Virginia at the elementary, middle school, high school, and undergraduate levels to represent your region as a Young Poet in the Community. Along with panelists from the Poetry Society of Virginia, Igloria will review applications and select five Young Poets in the Community in each of the six Poetry Society of Virginia regions (Southeastern, Eastern, Northern, Northwestern, Central, North Central).

Young poets are invited to send their poems and vision for how to use poetry to build a better world and work creatively with others. Apply by October 15 to receive cash prizes, along with a certificate of recognition.

Not in Virginia? Find your local poet laureate and discover projects, programs, and events offered to students.

Education Ambassador of the Academy of American Poets and Presidential Inaugural Poet, Richard Blanco, will become the first visiting artist at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), School of the Arts.

Blanco will select poetry submissions to be featured in the 2022 Festival of Young Artists. He will also mentor and help develop the crafts of three poetry finalists who will be chosen to recite their work on SPAC’s amphitheater stage alongside the inaugural poet.

#YouthPoetryEvent Spotlight: Raise Your Voice, Virtual Writing Workshops for Teens

Write the World’s 2021 Virtual Poetry Workshops (9/25, 10/2, and 10/9; 2–3:30 pm ET) invite writers ages 13–19 to connect across continents, level up their craft, and learn from celebrated and caring authors through a variety of poetic genres. Raise your voice and connect your poetry to the world through this interactive spoken word poetry workshop taught by a leading spoken word artist, Phil Kaye. Learn more here. (Sponsored)

Poems About School Subjects

Browse Teach This Poem

This month’s poetic term is translation, referring to the art of transferring a poem's meaning from one language to another. R ead more on Poets.org.

Teachers, thank you for your work bringing poetry into the classroom year-round. We’re happy to be able to offer hundreds of free lesson plans, essays, and other resources, and we wish you and your students health and safety.

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Poem-a-Day - Poems for Hispanic Heritage Month

Older messages

"The Thing of Nature That Defies or Defers, Rather Than Presupposes, Representation" by Douglas Kearney

"Leave" by Monica Youn

National Translation Month, Announcing the 2021 Poems in Translation Contest Winners, and more

"The Lobelias of Fear" by Bernadette Mayer

"Conversation in Isolation" by Harryette Mullen

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