If you think you can churn out 30 poems in 30 days, read on

Dubai - We're on day seven of the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWrMo). Poets in the UAE are busy penning 30 poems in 30 days. Will they make it to the finishing line?

There are all kinds of 30-day challenges - to detoxify, to get a flat stomach, to wear an LBD, and more. But here's an interesting challenge that the people, actually poets, in the UAE have taken up - to write 30 poems in a span of 30 days! Yes, you heard that right. Whilst you read this, a bunch of creative souls are penning limericks, haikus, sonnets, and more. Today is day seven of the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) - that's what the global creative frat calls it. We chat up with the local challengers. Are they in shape yet?
For Dorian Paul Rogers, the initiator of NaPoWriMo challenge in the UAE, poetry is life. "It is a tradition that I have participated in for a few years. It encourages people to write and read poetry. The challenge, like any fitness plan, helps poets to get in writing shape and to collect rough drafts that hopefully become solid poems at a later time." His favourite poetry genre is Spoken Word, which focuses equally on the performance aspect of poetry. "Reading or hearing good poetry inspires the reader/listener to want to live instead of simply existing," says Dorian, an English teacher and the man behind Rooftop Rhythms (Abu Dhabi's first ever Poetry Open Mic, which highlights the best poetry and performance talent in the UAE). His first attempt at poetry was in 2000 and his favourite poets are Patricia Smith, Nikki Giovanni, Pages Matam, Pablo Neruda, Sonia Sanchez, and June Jordan.
American poets are said to promote the challenge in April, ie the National Poetry Month. No wonder, most UAE participants are Americans - actually, many of them happen to be English teachers, including Dorian. Diedra L Williams, an English teacher based in Al Ain, says, "This challenge makes me step outside of just writing about what I'm feeling and makes me get in my head and pull from my thoughts instead of just my heart." For her, poetry is a way to release her feelings. "I tend to hold in my anger, hurt, and disappointments. I can write them all out on paper and they seem to fade from my heart and mind, and I am able to forgive and move on." She started writing when she was in the second grade. Her favourite poets are Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. Never been one to write daily, she says she writes by feelings, "If nothing is going on that moves me then I don't write." What are her favourite poetry genres? "Lyric and narrative." Once upon a time, Anthony Anamelechi used to dislike love poetry, "But some poets know how to express love poems in a way that's unconventional, so now I have begun to enjoy all genres." Ask him to describe poetry and he sums it up in just one word, "Liberating." For him, the challenge is his chance to get out of the comfort zone. An English teacher, he has been writing poetry since he was in middle school.  He likes writing style prompts, "It's like a rapper freestyling to a beat he's never heard of. They help you to delve into topics you would have probably never thought of touching."
"I feel I have a certain responsibility to the art and its movement," is how Alton Ramsey, a property consultant, sums up his participation. Before coming to Abu Dhabi, poetry was never a constant for him. He feels that poetry is an ultimate opportunity of expression. "The depths can be far reaching like no other." His favourite poets include Maya Angelou, Gil Scott Heron, and Dorian Rodgers, "But, I am very taken by the likes of some of the new kids (poets) on the block here in Abu Dhabi."
What on earth is NaPoWriMo?
National Poetry Month, which takes place each April, is a celebration of poetry. Introduced in 1996 , and organised by the Academy of American Poets, it's a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the US. NaPoWriMo or National Poetry Writing Month is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April. It's a concept from Maureen Thorson, who is a poet living in Washington, DC. Inspired by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), she started writing a poem a day for the month of April back in 2003, posting the poems on her blog. When other people started writing poems for April, and posting them on their own blogs, Maureen linked to them. After a few years, so many people were doing NaPoWriMo that Maureen decided to launch a website for the project.
purva@khaleejtimes.com
A storyteller, Purva is in search of her favourite word