Diverse Verse: A Poetry Resource for Teachers, Librarians and Writers

Padma Venkatraman is the author of The Bridge Home, Born Behind Bars, A Time to Dance, Island's End and Climbing the Stairs. Her books have sold over ¼ million copies, received over 20 starred reviews, and won numerous awards: Walter Dean Myers Award, South Asia Book Award, Golden Kite, ALA Notable etc. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry Magazine and been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Padma’s latest novel, Safe Harbor, which School Library Journal described in a starred review as an “must-read” is inspired by Padma’s doctorate in oceanography and it features a girl who rescues a stranded seal. When she’s not writing, Padma loves teaching and sharing her love for reading, writing and science. Visit Padma’s website to download free teacher and writer resources (www.padmavenkatraman.com) and arrange an event via her speaking agency, The Author Village (https://theauthorvillage.com/presenters/padma-venkatraman/).

Diverse Verse: A Poetry Resource for Teachers, Librarians and Writers

Before the pandemic, on a school visit, I had a revealing experience. A teacher confessed that she almost all the poetry she taught was by white poets. As we chatted some more, she also shared that she couldn’t think of a single poem about hope, other than the one by Emily Dickinson. (If you aren’t going to read this post all the way through, then at least check out my diverse verse post featuring poems on hope written by BIPOC poets:
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https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/poems-for-hope-2024) 

The educator’s comment, along with other things, such as an invitation to speak at an event organized by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell, which reminded me of how deeply Tamil literature and Tamil poetry have influenced me, got me thinking. A seed of an idea was born in my mind. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a website - a resource celebrating BIPOC poets and diverse poetic voices? 
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I started reaching out, seeing how others felt about it. I received enthusiastic responses from many poets. An encouraging and supportive email from Jackie Woodson that moved me to tears. Blessings from Nikki Grimes who warned “that’s quite an undertaking.”

Kari Anne Holt sent me a link to news article about how, “In Burma, they have come for the poets,” saying it felt pertinent to our discussion. Now, several years after our Diverse Verse initative began, the article still feels pertinent – almost frighteningly so. 

In the years since we began, our efforts have grown and changed. We have accumulated several excellent teaching resources and writing prompts. And during poetry month each year, we host a call for poetry from young poets. Young poets work on their poems in April and send them to us. Every participant receives a certificate of appreciation for their hard work, and judges choose a few poems to be featured on our website. 

If you’re a teacher or parent or librarian, here’s a heads up. This year, we’ll be inviting young poets (elementary school through high school) to submit “POEMS FOR ACTION” i.e. poems that inspire readers to take action on any topic or issue the poet feels passionately about. In March, we’ll put up a post with exemplars of “POEMS FOR ACTION” written by BIPOC poets – and we encourage young poets to read these before sending in their submissions.

And here’s an annotated list highlighting a few of the many useful resources that can be found on our site: 

Playing with Line Breaks: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/learning-line-breaks-rene-saldana-jr

A craft and poetry activity: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/pocketful-of-poetry-a-mini-chapbook

Tips on close reading a poem: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/how-to-read-a-poem
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Writing a Thirteen Ways poem: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/thirteen-ways-of-surprising-yourself-and-your-reader

Writing A Poem in Four Easy Steps: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/how-to-build-a-poem-in-four-easy-steps

On Silence and Inaction: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/different-kinds-of-silence

Thoughts on Rhyme: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/tameka-fryer-brown-on-poetry-and-picture-books

Poetry as a vehicle for showing history: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/https/wwwdiverseversecom/interview-with-marilyn-nelson

Templates as  tools to create specific poetry forms: https://www.diverseverse.com/blog/https/wwwdiverseversecom/poetry-templates-training-wheels-for-all-learners

I hope very much that you’ll join our mailing list and stay in touch with us at:
  
www.diverseverse.org (or www.diverseverse.com – both should lead you to the same location).

​If you have a poetry-related activity that you’d like to share – or if you can’t see the pop-up to sign on to our mailing list (to receive our bi-annual newsletter) please feel free to reach out to me directly (www.padmavenkatraman.com).