#TheSealeyChallenge
July 22, 2021
My favorite literary event of 2020 was #TheSealeyChallenge in August, when I (and so many others) read a book of poetry every day. Yes, 31 books in a month! Even when a big storm knocked out our power, I was making coffee on the grill and reading the day's poetry book on the patio. So. Much. Fun. I learned so many things. Water takes a really long time to boil on the grill, and the work of Ashley M. Jones, Tommy Pico, Junious Ward, Nancy Willard, Jenny Xie, Alberto Ríos, Ocean Vuong, et al., is well worth seeking out.
I kept track of the books on Twitter; others used Instagram, Facebook, blogs, etc.
The new edition of the challenge launches on Sunday, August 1, 2021. The poet Nicole Sealey (Ordinary Beast, Ecco Press, 2017) started this endeavor. From the website:
"in 2017, balancing her administrative work with the promotion of her first book left poet nicole sealey with little time to read for pleasure. nicole decided to challenge herself to a personal goal: read a book of poems each day for the month of August. nicole announced her intention on social media and the challenge quickly took off, inspiring its own hashtag: #TheSealeyChallenge!"
You can borrow books of poetry at the library and through inter-library loans (start requesting now!) and buy them at your favorite bookstore. Some good apps for reading e-books include Hoopla, Freading, and Libby. All free, in various systems, with a library card! Don't forget about audiobooks; I plan to to listen to Eve L. Ewing's 1919.
What to read? Follow the website's advice: "while the books you choose are up to you, The Sealey Challenge encourages reading books by marginalized poets. for ideas, browse blog posts from past participants."
The roster of interviewees (and hosts) at the Poetry Foundation's VS podcast and the one at the New Yorker's poetry podcast are also good resources. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the online journal Jacket2 and its podcast, PoemTalk, as well. And Stephanie Burt's books The Poem is You: 60 Contemporary American Poems and How to Read Them (Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, 2016) and Don't Read Poetry: A Book About How to Read Poems (Basic Books, 2019) contain multitudes.
For books of poetry for children, the LA Public Library's article "21st Century Kids: Embrace Diversity Through Poetry" provides a good reference, and so do NCTE, 100 Scope Notes, the Cooperative Children's Book Center, Lambda Literary (scroll down for the poetry books), and Sylvia Vardell's Poetry for Children blog, among others.
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For more poems and poetry talk, check the Poetry Friday roundup at author Kathryn Apel's blog on July 23rd.
Photos by ST (2020). Top, NYC mural by Rone, part of a series curated by the organization Education Is Not a Crime. Below, Share TMC graffiti, Westchester, New York.
Wow. I can see that would be a challenge. And halfway through I'm sure it would be as much a challenge to continue reading when surely your fingers must twitching to find time to write poetry, too, after all that immersion and inspiration!
Posted by: Kathryn Apel | July 23, 2021 at 08:28 AM
Hi, Kat. I especially enjoy seeing what others are reading and getting recommendations that way. I have a never-ending list of books to read!
Posted by: Susan T. | July 23, 2021 at 04:31 PM
I should do this. I have a huge collection of poetry books that I haven't read and some I'd love to re-read. Thanks for the push!
Posted by: Margaret Simon | July 23, 2021 at 07:27 PM
Margaret, I hope you do join in! It was really fun last summer, and the poets really blew me away with their talent.
Posted by: Susan T. | July 23, 2021 at 08:55 PM
What a challenge! (And what great resources you listed! Sylvia Vardell's blog Poetry For Children is another.)
I'm going to say...I'm in! I'll have to take some poetry with me to CO -- we'll be traveling back 8/1 and 8/2 -- but that means I can return those two books of poetry that were loaned to me months ago...and then dig into what's on my shelves and what comes with the recommendations!
Posted by: Mary Lee | July 24, 2021 at 06:21 AM
I know that billboard! I keep my eyes peeled for it every time I go to the city. (Sadly, it's been 18 months since I've been to New York, but the Medici at the Met show is going to be hard to resist.) Reading a book of poetry a day sounds like a worthy, manageable goal. Thank you for introducing me to #TheSealyChallenge!
Posted by: Catherine Flynn | July 24, 2021 at 06:25 AM
Mary Lee, yay! I'm already having the best time assembling books. And, of course, with Sylvia's blog. I'll add it in. Thank you.
Catherine, you got it! I go back and forth a lot from the train station at 125th Street, and have enjoyed all the street art and murals in that area. The Challenge is great! I'm really looking forward to starting my days with poetry again.
Posted by: Susan T. | July 24, 2021 at 08:47 AM
Susan, thank you for the invitation! I have a surprisingly (for during a pandemic) busy August, but I do have some poetry books I have neglected to read, so I will definitely read some along with #TheSealyChallenge. Maybe I can do 31 next year.
Posted by: Denise Krebs | July 24, 2021 at 01:03 PM
Hi, Denise. Yes, it is great to participate however you can! The "challenge" grows into a big conversation about poetry on Twitter and other venues.
Posted by: Susan T. | July 24, 2021 at 02:11 PM