Happy New Year, poets! It’s hard to believe it, but we are one week away from the Pinesong Awards submission deadline.
Between researching and writing this blog, processing entries, and keeping up with the North Carolina Poetry Society board of directors, I have logged more computer time than ever over the last few months. This has given me a new appreciation for all the benefits that technology offers us poets.
I will go as far as to say if you have a smartphone, you have a fantastical magical notebook that would have thrilled and amazed any poet from a previous era.
How much do you use your phone in service of your poetry? Here are three ideas for making the most of it:
- Get a poetry app and use it daily. A poetry app on your phone gives you free and easy access to poems that can inspire and educate. Any time during the day, when your thoughts turn to poetry, you can get in a quick read. The Haiku Foundation has a nice one that pulls up a new haiku with a flick of your wrist. Just like magic! The Poetry Foundation app will send a poem a day to your notifications. It also has a fascinating spin feature that randomly combines a state of mind (for example nostalgia, humor, or boredom) with a subject (for example nature, celebrations, or youth) and then produces a list of poems with those attributes.
- Write a texting poem with a friend. A cool way to collaborate! Recruit a poet-friend and trade off writing the lines of a poem by texting each other. Challenge each other to reach new heights!
- Put your phone accessories to good use. Your phone contains a slew of tools that can enhance your poetry writing. Consider the following:
- Set a daily reminder on your phone that tells you to take a ten minute break to think about poetry.
- Take a random photo during the day, then use the image to write a poem that night.
- Use your phone’s audio recorder to record one of your poems. Play it to yourself at random times throughout the day and see how your experience of the poem changes.
In short, have fun with your phone and your poetry!
And don’t forget to send your Pinesong entries by January 12.
PINESONG AWARDS 