KU partners with national organizations to observe Langston Hughes day April 2

LAWRENCE -- People across the nation are being encouraged to set aside time on April 2 to read and discuss poetry by Langston Hughes, according to Maryemma Graham, co-director of the Langston Hughes National Poetry Project, based at the University of Kansas.

KU's project is partnering with the Academy of American Poets and the National Council of Teachers of English to sponsor the national Langston Hughes Poetry Day. Hughes (1902-1967) lived in Kansas during his childhood, much of the time with his grandmother in Lawrence.

"We're encouraging people to read Hughes aloud on that day," Graham said. "We hope that millions of men, women and children across the country will join in the world's largest poetry reading group. This is not just for schools. We're suggesting people meet in libraries, community centers, hospitals, bookstores or wherever they choose."

The Lawrence Public Library plans to broadcast over the library's loudspeaker a Hughes poem every hour, possibly every half-hour, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 2, said Sandra Wiechert, community relations officer for the Lawrence library. Wiechert and Maria Butler at the library are seeking people who wish to be guest readers.

Graham and Cary Goldstein at the academy in New York City have received calls from libraries, school groups, churches and other organizations asking for ideas to observe Langston Hughes Day. Graham and Goldstein suggest promoting reading parties in local schools, Sunday readings in churches and read-in sessions in libraries and bookstores or museums, including music to accompany the reading.

The Academy of American Poets Web site, www.poets.org, includes the Langston Hughes Centenary Exhibit as well as resources for groups planning to read and discuss Hughes' poetry. The resources include a reading group guide developed for KU's Feb. 7-10 symposium celebrating Hughes' life and legacy.

The Langston Hughes National Poetry Project was established last summer with a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. The grant supports a Web page, www.kuce.org/hughes, for the February symposium and other outreach efforts to encourage poetry reading. The project provided the structure for a model project in Kansas funded this fall by the Kansas Endowment for the Humanities.

The Academy of American Poets was founded in 1934 to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry. In addition to distributing awards and prizes, the academy annually sponsors national poetry month in April and provides an online community for high school teachers.