Well, it doesn’t feel like a year since the last NaPo – and what a year it has been for us all! But, here it is our month of writing a poem a day… don’t be too hard on yourselves if you miss a day. I will be sharing the prompts from the main sites and a link to the full post from napowrimo.net as well as some insight into process and always coverage of the rabbit holes when they happen!
Day One < Click here for the full post
on APRIL 1, 2021
… I hope you’re ready to plunge into a world of similes, metaphors, line breaks, rhymes, meter, and all of the other tricks and turns of the poem-writing trade.
Our featured participant today is Namratha Varadhajaran of Namy Says So, who brings us a poem inspired by and Azetec sculpture and yesterday’s featured poetry reading!
And speaking of featured readings, today’s featured poetry reading is a live event that will take place tomorrow, April 2 at 3 p.m. eastern daylight time. It will feature the poet Monica de la Torre doing a close reading of César Vallejo’s poem “XXXVI,” which you can read in the original Spanish here, and in English translation here. You can find the registration link for the reading here.
I have been to some of these Close Reading by The Flow Chart Foundation throughout 2020, BST 8-9pm, a free event – book through Eventbrite.
And without further ado, our daily prompt… Sometimes, writing poetry is a matter of getting outside of your own head, and learning to see the world in a new way. To an extent, you have to “derange” yourself – make the world strange, and see it as a stranger might. To help you do that, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem inspired by this animated version of “Seductive Fantasy” by Sun Ra and his Arkestra.
If you don’t feel after watching it a little bit like the top of your head’s been taken off, and your thoughts given a good stir – well, maybe you are already living in a state of heightened poetic awareness!
Happy writing, everyone!
©napowrimo.net
I watched the video without the jazzy sound (Arkestra), whilst freewriting notes, I looked back and found a few phrases I liked, I repeated the process with audio and then a third time just listening and sought out the words and phrases again. I then just watched the video to enjoy it and you should too!
I was fascinated how different the writing was even after already writing from the prompt. The brain open is a crazily, amazing place. There was certainly more material processed in writing to visual and audio stimuli. I then sat with the lines for a while, re-read and then wrote a poem from there. Some words and phrases from the original freewrites appeared in my final poem. It was a fun prompt and a starting point (video/film) I often use, although rarely animation, so was definitely a poem which wouldn’t have come into being without NaPo.
awritersfountain 