Na/GloPoWriMo Are Nearly Upon Us

Happy final day of March, everyone! Tomorrow we launch our 22^nd Na/GloPoWriMo. Wow!

As usual, we’ll feature a participant, resource, and a prompt every day. And remember – those prompts are optional. If one doesn’t pique your interest or strike your fancy, no worries! Feel free to write a poem to a theme of your own desiring – or if you’d like another source of prompts, why not check out Writer’s Digest’s annual list?

And now, here’s an early-bird prompt for those of you who want to write a poem, whether it’s April or not – and for those of you for whom it’s April already, even as poets in other places around the world are still in March.

Maybe one of the most common subjects in art is a portrait – a painting of one, singular person. Portrait poems are also very common. To get a sense of the breadth of style and form that these poems can take, take a look at Anni Liu’s prose poem, “Portrait Of,” John Yau’s, “Portrait,” and Karl Kirchwey’s “The Red Portrait.” Now try penning a portrait poem of your own. It can be a self-portrait, a portrait of someone well known to you, or even a poem inspired by an actual painted portrait. (If you’re looking for one to inspire you, why not check out the online collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery?)

Happy writing!