The National Favorite Poem Project
March 7, 2019The brainchild of former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, The National Favorite Poem Project was
launched in 1997 to celebrate the sheer pleasure of poetry with the public at large. Pinsky called for
favorite poems and received 18,000 responses from Americans of diverse regions, ages, and backgrounds.
This is the seventeenth year that Newburyport High School will create a Favorite Poem Project right here
in Newburyport. We invite everyone to submit a favorite poem, along with a brief statement explaining
how you discovered the poem and why this poem has personal meaning for you. We are not looking for
literary analysis, but rather for an explanation of your connection to the poem. Students will review and
select 24 poems to be read at the Firehouse Center for the Arts on Sunday, April 28th at 2:00 PM.
Please include some identifying information, such as your profession and/or age, so we can be sure to
select a varied group of readers and poems for the performance. Last year’s program included readers
ranging in age from 5 to 103, poems in four languages other than English, and poets that span centuries.
We hope to match that diversity this year.
Send a favorite poem by April 2 to: dszabo@newburyport.k12.ma.us OR mail to:
Deborah Szabo, Newburyport High School, 241 High St., Newburyport, MA 01950.
If your poem is not in English, please include a translation.
