DEARBORN – Dearborn Public Library will join in the largest literary celebration in the country during April, which is National Poetry Month.
The month is set aside as a time to celebrate and appreciate the importance of poetry in the culture and lives of people everywhere.
Free library programs are scheduled for April 14 and 30 to illustrate the power of poetry to help people sort out even the most difficult of life experiences, along with its ability to encourage creativity and whimsy.
The programs are at 7 p.m. at Henry Ford Centennial Library, 16301 Michigan Ave.
The April 14 program, “150 years ago today . . .” will examine the violence of the Civil War and its impact on both individual soldiers and the nation as a whole.
The date marks the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the war’s final casualty.
John Rietz from Henry Ford College will lead a discussion on the “Drum-Taps” poems written by American poet Walt Whitman as he ministered to wounded veterans in Washington, D.C., hospitals during the Civil War.
Copies of the poems will be available at the event and in advance on the library’s homepage at www.dearbornlibrary.org.
The appreciation of poetry continues April 30 with “A Pocketful of Poems” in celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day, a special day set aside to share little poems.
Angela Hathikhanavala, also of HFC, will join Rietz for this presentation. They will read and discuss a variety of small poetic gems. A selection of poems will be available at the event, but participants may take along their short favorites copied and clipped for sharing.
For more information about these programs, contact the library at 313-943-2330 or go to www.dearbornlibrary.org.