This blog post was submitted by staff member Lori G at Murphy-Wilmot Library.
Poetry lovers look forward to August every year as an excuse to read poetry in new ways. Nicole Sealey began the Sealey Challenge as a personal and then a communal challenge to read one book of poetry a day for the month of August. Since 2023, the University of Arizona’s Poetry Center has shepherded the project, posting challenge details and inspiration on their website and hosting local Tucson events.
Parents, teachers, and young people have many opportunities to participate in the project. You could read a poem a day with your child or read an entire poetry collection. Teachers can use the Sealey challenge and the books below as starting points for a poetry unit. Many of the books on this starter list contain fun formal or thematic challenges to inspire students to write their own poems. Young people can read a poem or a picture book a day, letting the poetry in these books inspire them to see the world in new ways.
However you plan to participate in the Sealey Challenge, either by reading a poem or a book a day or just trying to include more poetry in your life, check out The Sealey Challenge website for additional inspiration, and find books from these lists and more at your local Pima County Library branch.
