Promoting small presses and poetry

Kathleen Rooney posts today at Harriet, the news blog of the Poetry Foundation, about the organization Hey Small Press!. Here’s who they are:

We are Hey Small Press!, a non-profit project promoting independent publishers to public libraries all over the United States. Founded by current and former public library employees, we exist to encourage libraries to acquire small and independent press books. We love good books and want them on library shelves!

The organization reviews ten new or upcoming titles every month in service to libraries and the public. Readers can sign up for their newsletter to receive regular updates, and ask for those books at their local libraries.

The poet John Keene has served as this month’s guest Twitter author for the Poetry Foundation. For tonight’s poetry project, he introduces followers to the seguidilla and encourages us to send in our first lines or whole poems. As National Poetry Month wraps up, he tweets, “We rapidly approach the end of this wonderful month of poetry, so let me say, please carry poems in your minds & pockets always.”