Extract from The Academy of American Poets site:

New York, NY (February 26, 2018)—This March the more than twenty organizations in ten cities nationwide that compose the Poetry Coalition will launch Where My Dreaming and My Loving Live: Poetry & the Body, the coalition’s second annual programming initiative. For this collaborative effort, each organization will bring its unique mission to the task of presenting programs and projects on the theme of the body. Programs will include a range of events and publications that address issues including mass incarceration, transphobia, violence against people of color, and health and self-care. This programming is made possible in part by a grant from the Ford Foundation secured by the Academy of American Poets.

The phrase “Where My Dreaming and My Loving Live” is an excerpt from U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s poem “Flores Woman” from her collection Duende, which won the James Laughlin Award in 2006.

Now, more than ever, these organizations believe that poetry has a positive role to play in our country. It is through reading, writing, and discussing poems that we learn about one another on our most human level, inspiring empathy, compassion, and greater understanding of one another. Poetry Coalition members believe that by collaborating on programs, they will spotlight the art form’s unique ability to spark dialogues, create opportunities to engage in meaningful conversation, discover unexpected connections with one another, and inspire new readers.

All organizations and other interested are invited to program on this theme in March and share their efforts using the hashtags #MyDreamingMyLoving and #PoetryCoalition.

Here’s a look at what will take place across the country in March