Key keywords: Day 11 National Poetry Month, National Poetry Month 2024, marginalized poet voices, spoken word poetry, youth poetry outreach, prison writing programs, literary community events, free public poetry workshops April marks the annual National Poetry Month hosted by the Academy of American Poets, and the Day 11 curated selections released this week have drawn widespread acclaim for their intentional focus on underrepresented creators and accessible community programming. This year’s Day 11 lineup features 29 poets across a wide range of identities, including Indigenous, Latinx, Black, disabled, queer, and trans creators, as well as contributors from the national Prison Poetry Project, a nonprofit that supports creative writing for incarcerated people across 37 U.S. states. The selected works cover diverse themes that resonate with modern audiences, from intergenerational trauma in immigrant families, climate grief among rural communities, the joy of queer chosen families, to the small, everyday victories of people living with chronic illness. Unlike traditional poetry collections that prioritize printed, academic works, the Day 11 selections also include 8 spoken word performances available for free streaming on the Academy of American Poets website and official YouTube channel, with closed captions and ASL interpretation provided for deaf and hard of hearing audiences. Alongside the published selections, the Day 11 programming includes 22 free in-person poetry workshops hosted across 18 major U.S. cities, as well as 7 virtual workshops open to global participants, with a specific focus on serving youth aged 12 to 18 who have limited access to literary arts education in their schools. A collaborative social media challenge launched on TikTok and Instagram under the hashtag #NPMDay11 has already accumulated over 14.2 million views as of Wednesday, with thousands of users sharing their own original poems, readings of the Day 11 selections, and personal stories of how poetry has impacted their lives. Academy of American Poets executive director Jennifer Benka shared in a press release that the Day 11 selections were designed to “break down the myth that poetry is only for educated, elite audiences.” She added, “Every single person has a story that deserves to be told through poetry, and our Day 11 lineup reflects that. We wanted to create a collection that anyone could pick up or watch and see a piece of their own experience reflected back.” Early data from the Academy shows that participation in 2024 National Poetry Month events is up 41% compared to the same point in 2023, with over 210,000 people registering for free events across the country in the first 11 days of the month.