Spring 2020 CALS Poetry Anthology Published

Every April, writers and creatives across the map celebrate National Poetry Month. For thirty days, we honor the great poets of our past by spotlighting new and promising works and encouraging everyone (and anyone) to connect with their inner poet. This year, the CALS Writing Circle hosted a month-long challenge. For every day in the month of April, a new prompt in the form of a single word was given to our writers–words like wake, spark, thaw, clear.

When we sat down to plan the challenge, we set a few goals. We agreed that if April came to an end and we had at least fifteen poems, we would consider the contest a success. The days ticked by, but our inboxes never came up empty; every morning there were new poems to be read. Now here we are with a completed anthology of over fifty poems, all written by local writers!

We wish we could celebrate their hard work in person. We wish we could hear each poet read their work over hot coffee. For now, however, we offer this digital collection and a virtual round of applause.

With that, we hope these poems bring you joy. They certainly have for us.

Cheers,
Bekah Smith & Deb Moore
Central Arkansas Library System

Download Writing Circle Anthology