For the past 30 years, the Academy of American Poets has celebrated April as National Poetry Month, highlighting the social influence of poets and the power of literature in verse. Notably, this year also marks the country's 250th anniversary of its founding. Today's issue features an interview with Joshua Bennett about his book We (the People of the United States) and how such a powerful pronoun spirals outward from the tight cohorts of family to the broad collective of a nation. And we're also sharing "He Said My Name," a poem supercharged with environmental energy, excerpted from the new collection by Jake Skeets, Horses. April may be half over, but poetry deserves to be fêted all year long!
--Dave Wheeler, senior editor, Shelf Awareness