I’m really excited! This is a fantastic poetry site. Not only can you search for poems to read. you can also listen to them. (Note: You need to have RealPlayer installed on your computer to listen to the poets).
I’ve been browsing here for several hours now, lost in poem after poem. When you listen to a poem, they suggest another and I just keep clicking and listening. I love hearing the different accents and dialects that each poet offers.
There are several ways to enjoy this site. You can take a guided tour, search for poets or poems, or listen to the featured poets on the front page and surf like I did from poem to poem.
Guided Tour – these really show the range of poetry on the site. You can see the poems listed and then click your back button to listen to the next one on the list. I enjoyed both tours that were available and am looking forward to more.
Search – looking for poets or poems is an easy way to check out this site. You can either type in a poem or poet in the search engine and click ‘Go,’ or you can use the alphabet to search by a poet’s last name, or poem title.
For Teachers – this is a great section for teachers who use poetry in their classrooms to teach. There are lesson plans, tips for listening and even classroom activity ideas.
For Students – have an English class that requires you to study poetry? Or are you taking a poetry class at college? Well, this site has a special section just for students. Here you will find instructions on how to get the most out of the resources that are provided.
The Children’s Archive – this was a great find. I love this section. This is where you can let your kids surf to learn, listen, and read poetry in a child friendly format.
Interviews – you’ll find these spread around the site. I couldn’t find an interview page where they were all listed, but there are some great interviews out there.
After having spent way too much time here I found a few favorites – I really enjoyed Valerie Bloom.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
~ Amanda