Celebrating the unifying power of poetry

Poetry crosses all boundaries, including age, gender, ethnicity and culture. Right now, it’s hotter than hot, thanks to poetry royalty like Hera Lindsay Bird, Courtney Sina Meredith and Chris Tse.

This year, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day takes place on Friday 23 August; the same day that New Zealand’s new Poet Laureate is announced.

Again, our annual celebration of poetry has broken all records, with more than 150 events and competitions scheduled to take place nationwide. Expect #NZPoetryDay to trend on Twitter and people to greet each other in the streets saying, happy poetry day.’

Held every year on the fourth Friday in August, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day unites poetry fans from all over Aotearoa in an action-packed programme of poetry slams and rap, open mic and spoken word performances, pop-up events, book launches, readings and competitions.

This year’s celebration will be visible in communities all over Aotearoa – from pavements and public transport to parks, beaches, cafés, bars, bookshops, schools, university campuses, libraries, RSAs, community centres, marae and more.

Many of the programmed events will be open to the public and free to enjoy. For full details, including places, venues, times, tickets and more, go to: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/national-poetry-day/.

Established in 1997, National Poetry Day is a popular fixture on the nation’s cultural calendar and one that celebrates discovery, diversity and community. For the past four years, Phantom Billstickers has supported National Poetry Day through its naming rights sponsorship.

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