April is National Poetry Month and the Kentucky Arts Council offers a number of activities and suggestions for Kentuckians to join in the celebration.

The founder of National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets, has a free mobile app, Poem Flow, which features daily poems presented as both fixed and animated text. The academy is also promoting April 14 as Poem in Your Pocket Day. The arts council encourages participation in these activities. For more information, visit www.poets.org.

Beginning April 4, the arts council will post a poem a week for National Poetry Month, leading up to Kentucky Writers’ Day on April 25. Teachers will be able to download these poems written by Kentucky poets laureate and make copies for their classes to incorporate into the language arts curriculum. Other teacher resources are available at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/WritersDay/writers_poem.htm.

The Kentucky Arts Council presents Kentucky Writers’ Day and the induction of Kentucky’s new Poet Laureate, Maureen Morehead, at 11 a.m., April 25, 2011, in the Capitol Rotunda. The annual event includes readings by previous Kentucky poets laureate, recitations by the Kentucky winners of the 2011 Poetry Out Loud competition, and recognition of the valuable role Kentucky writers play in our society.

The Kentucky Arts Council offers a number of broadsides by Kentucky poets laureate as handsome letterpress prints by Larkspur Press. The arts council has also published “Five Kentucky Poets Laureate: An Anthology,” a collection of poetry and prose by this distinguished group of writers. The broadsides and the anthology can be ordered online at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/shop/merchandise.htm. Proceeds from sales support literary arts projects in Kentucky.

For information about other Kentucky literary activities planned for National Poetry Month, visit the Kentucky Literary Newsletter website at http://windpub.com/current.htm.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.