April is here -- finally! If you are confused about why there is so much excitement in the poetry community, then let me tell you that April is National Poetry Writing Month, or just Poetry Writing Month, if you like.

National Poetry Writing Month FAQ

So what are we going to do about it?

We are going to write a poem a day. Or some of us are, and you should join us. Poetry writing month is open to everyone. Don't feel daunted if you don't think of yourself as a poet. It will still be a whole lot of fun and us poets are pretty welcoming, and oh... there are prizes to be won.

There will be a contest each week with a different judge. There is also an overall contest with the promise of publication (see below).

Do I have to participate in everything?

Not at all. There are three activities going on this month:

Write a poem a day
Weekly contests
The Mini Chapbook Contest

and you can enter all three, or one or two, as you like.

Register to write a poem a day in April

To do this you need to:

Note ^lovetodeviate with a simple yes and I will add you to my journal list. The subject line should be "REGISTER". Or you can simply reply to this news article with a yes.
Write a poem a day and try to post them as a scrap or deviation. You can be late, sure, but at the end of April you should have 30 poems posted.
This is not necessary, but it would be great if you kept a journal with links to the poems you wrote in April for reference.

No deadline.

Week One: Poetic Responses - Contest

Write a poem in response to a piece of published prose writing. The prose can be non-fiction or fiction.

Post your poem as a scrap or deviation.
Mention the prose piece that you are responding to in the artists comments (link not necessary).
Send me a link to the poem in a note titled "POETIC RESPONSE".

Deadline: midnight April 7 (GMT)

Prizes: Two 3-month subs or one 6-month sub (up to the judge) and a journal feature from ^lovetodeviate

Judge: `PoeticWar

The Mini Chapbook Contest - Overall Contest

One of my favourite pastimes involves playing around with my poetry, arranging them in sequence, dreaming about how it would if I had a collection published...

So I thought it would be fun to have a mini chapbook contest. Not only is it fun, it also "will be good training for everyone in thinking of how their poems can relate to each other and build up into something greater than the sum of their parts," as the contest judge said. This should be good practice for anyone with plans to arrange a chapbook or full-fledged poetry collection in the future.

After all the weekly contests, you will have an extra week to organise a mini chapbook. You can start preparing beforehand by thinking of a theme or concept, and also by registering to write a poem a day (details above). I will open this contest after week 2, when you will have written about 14 poems, but it's best to wait until the end of the month.
The mini chapbook must have a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 poems, all from your individual April poetry collections. (This is where making a journal of all your April poems will come in handy for the judges and you.)
You may edit and revise your poems using the Literature Workshop or any of the critique clubs on deviantART. The more revision, the better.
Details about submission and judging criteria will come later.

Prizes: $50 and $25 deviantDOLLARS, and best of all, the top two mini chapbooks will get published online in the roundtable review

Judge: Editor of the roundtable review, ~jack-cade

Have fun writing!

If you have any questions, please note me (^lovetodeviate). Prize offerings and stamps are also accepted.

Please make use of #getLIT, the Poetry & Prose Forum, polls and journals to discuss poetry related discussions. It will make April even more interesting.

Other poetry links

MIMESIS Digital Chapbook Initiative: Competition!
Funny Poetry Competition
Applause for April!
April is the cruelist month

_{[More links will be added later. Note me if I've missed something out.]}