NEW WEBSITE TARGETS POETRY SKEPTICS

Netwest member Jayne Jaudon Ferrer has launched a new website designed especially for people who don't like poetry. Unlike existing poem-a-day sites, http://www.yourdailypoem.com/ is targeted specifically at those who may need to be convinced to read poetry at all, much less on a daily basis. "A lot of people have a negative attitude toward poetry," concedes Ferrer, author of four books of poetry and a resident of Greenville, South Carolina. "Either they've had a bad experience with it in school or what they've been exposed to is very limited. They're shocked to discover that poetry is as diverse as any genre in its subject matter and style."

It's precisely that diversity that motivated Ferrer to launch http://www.yourdailypoem.com/, an outgrowth of an e-mail "poetry parade" she's done in celebration of National Poetry Month every April for the past eight years. What started as a challenge by her brother and brother-in-law, to find poems they would bother to read, turned Ferrer into a "poetry missionary," as she refers to herself. "I looked for the most amazing, outrageous, gut-punching poems I could find and, at the end of the month, they had to admit they'd read them all. They didn't like them all," laughs the author of four bestselling gift books for women, "but they read them—and that was the point."

Ferrer's annual poetry parade now goes out to more than five hundred subscribers, many of whom commented over the years that they would enjoy receiving poems daily instead of just during Poetry Month. This year, the comments multiplied and turned into pleas; one subscriber even sent a donation to support the cause. Thrilled at the enthusiasm of these former skeptics, but hesitant because of the amount of time she feared would be involved in researching copyrights and finding worthy poems, Ferrer ultimately decided to make the commitment. "It's taking as much time as I expected," she admits, "but the number of subscribers has tripled since the site launched on June 1st, and I've had wonderful support from the poets featured thus far." Those poets include Philip Dacey, Marge Piercy, Frank Asch, Gregory Orr, who called Your Daily Poem "quite wonderful," Netwest poets Brenda Kay Ledford and Glenda Beall, and many others. Santa Cruz poet and workshop leader Ellen Bass lauded the goal of the new site, saying, "My belief is that people really do love poetry, but they need to be given the poem they'll love."

Toward that end, Ferrer invites you to submit your most "lovable" poems. "This is not a venue for the morose or oblique," she cautions. "The point of Your Daily Poem is to show the pleasure and accessibility of poetry and to encourage people to make it a regular part of their lives; think Robert Frost, not Sylvia Plath. A happy ending's not mandatory, but a modicum of hope would be nice." Ferrer suggests browsing the site's archives to get a feel for the tone of poetry preferred.

Submissions to Your Daily Poem should be sent in the body of an e-mail to http://www.yourdailypoem.com/. Copyright information and publication details, if applicable, should be included along with an author bio of 100 words or less. A few personal facts are preferable to a detailed list of awards. “Only academics care that you won an award,” says Ferrer. “The general public is more intrigued by knowing you were inspired to write by your fourth grade teacher or that you collect comic books in your spare time. Familiarity with the poet makes it easier to embrace the poem."

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