National Poetry Month was started by the Academy of American Poets as a way to recognize and celebrate “poets’ integral role in our culture and that poetry matters” and it has become the “largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets, marking poetry’s important place in our lives.”
Those who knew Georgia O’Keeffe commented that she didn’t care much for poetry. Carol Merrill, author and companion to O’Keeffe in the 1970s, wrote that O’Keeffe said “she didn't like poetry, that she couldn't understand it” though there were certainly exceptions as she had several books of poetry in her personal library. O’Keeffe mentioned liking E.E. Cummings and owned a few of his publications including Poems, 1923-1954 and Xaipe: Seventy-One Poems, in which a thank you card from Cummings to O'Keeffe was found.
O’Keeffe also appreciated traditional Japanese haiku and Chinese poetry. Several of her friends and caretakers mentioned reading haiku poems to her, sometimes in the landscape or while under the stars camping. Merrill writes in her book, Weekends with O’Keeffe, that O’Keeffe enjoys poet Witter Bynner’s translated version of The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology: Being Three Hundred Poems of the T’ang Dynasty 618–906. O’Keeffe explained that “she liked [the poems] so much because each one is a picture” and that it might also be because they were created with a brush. Bynner, a friend of O’Keeffe, also gave her a copy of his translated version of The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu, in which he inscribes: Dear Georgia - You may not like Poetry but I have an idea that you already like Laotzu - Witter Bynner New Year 1954.
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O’Keeffe’s life and art has always inspired others and many have expressed themselves through poetry, to the extent that there is a book dedicated to the topic, Georgia O'Keeffe in Poetry by Cristiana Pagliarusco. Below are just a few examples of books of poetry inspired by O’Keeffe.
Blossoms and Bones by
The Feeling of Bigness: Encountering Georgia O'Keeffe by
Georgia O'Keeffe in Poetry by
Learn More
- Looking for ways to celebrate poets and poetry? Visit the Academy of American Poets 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month
- Lean more about poetry in O’Keeffe’s Personal Libraries