Introduced By: Representatives Naughton, Henseler, Giannini, Kennedy and Martineau
Date Introduced : April 6, 1999
WHEREAS, The Academy of American Poets invites every American to celebrate the month of April, 1999, as National Poetry month in recognition what Walt Whitman, one of America's greatest poets, once said that "The Americans of all nations at any time upon the earth have probably the fullest poetical nature" and because poetry in the words of the poet Sylvia Plath is "... as solid and miraculous as church altars or the coronation of queens"; and
WHEREAS, Since it was first inaugurated in 1996, National Poetry Month has become an established part of America's cultural life, which April celebration in the words of Academy Executive Director Bill Wadsworth: "... has a life of its own -- and a place in American culture that has grown dramatically every year"; and
WHEREAS, National Poetry Month has engendered the active involvement of tens of thousands of individuals and organizations in a broad array of communities throughout the United States and Canada with schools, libraries, bookstores, art and literary organizations working together to create a public tribute to this often under-recognized art form; and
WHEREAS, National Poetry Month has revealed the desire for poetry in every community, in every part of the country and continues to benefit from a phenomenal cumulative effect of more people joining the project each year because National Poetry Month helps to make poetry accessible to everybody and brings poetry into our cultural conversation; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby celebrates April, 1999, as National Poetry Month in Rhode Island and hereby joins the nation, its publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country in celebrating poetry and its vital place in American culture; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Academy of American Poets.
