April is National Poetry Month! Let’s celebrate by looking at the lives and work of some of poetry’s greats.

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney is my favorite poet! Drawing inspiration from the natural world, his poetry is beautiful, moving, and comprehensible even for the non-poetry reader. Born in Northern Ireland in 1939, Heaney became popular across several continents, and spent part of each year from 1981 to 1997 as a professor at Harvard University in Boston. From 1988 to 2006, he was also Harvard’s “Poet in Residence.” Heaney won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995 “for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past” (NobelPrize.org). Heaney passed away in Dublin in 2013.

My Seamus Heaney recommendations: “Digging” and “Mid-Term Break.”

Mary Oliver

Another poet whose connection to the natural world shines through in her work. Mary Oliver was an American poet, born in Ohio in 1935, best known for the way she drew attention to the lesser-acknowledged details of nature. She was notoriously quiet about her private life, but spent the majority of her adult years in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her fifth collection, American Primitive, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984. Oliver died of lymphoma in 2019; she was 83.

My Mary Oliver recommendations: “Fall” and “Wild Geese.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

A classic! Tennyson was a Victorian writer born in England in 1809. His childhood was not easy. His family had a history of epilepsy, which was seen as a shameful disease at that time, and both his father and his many siblings all suffered from severe mental illness. Writing was Tennyson’s escape—but even then, dark themes like madness, murder, and family estrangement often appeared in his work. I highly recommend looking up Tennyson’s story for yourself, just to get a glimpse of both the hardships and the almost unbelievable events that occurred around him throughout his life. Tennyson continued to write even in his eighties, and passed away in 1892.

My Alfred, Lord Tennyson recommendations: “The Lady of Shalott” and “Ulysses.”

Louise Glück

Louise Glück was an American poet, born in 1943 in New York City. “Considered by many to be one of America’s most talented contemporary poets, Glück is known for her poetry’s technical precision, sensitivity, and insight into loneliness, family relationships, divorce, and death” (PoetryFoundation.org). With twelve published collections of poetry, she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2003 to 2004, and won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature. She died of cancer in her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2023.

My Louise Glück recommendations: “The Wild Iris” and “A Fable.”

Sophia Thakur

Sophia Thakur is one of the greatest poetic voices of this generation. Born and raised in London, Thakur is a performance poet, songwriter, and award-winning author. She has collaborated with the likes of Nike, Calvin Klein, and MTV, and gave two TED Talks before the age of 20. Her debut collection, Somebody Give This Heart a Pen (2019), earned her a spot on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. Her work is praised for its honesty and musicality—she is truly a poet for the modern day, covering topics like love, family relationships, and finding one’s place in our current world. Thakur’s work often carries a positive message as well, which is both important and rare in a time when poetry can feel heavy and dark.

My Sophia Thakur recommendations: “Your Body, My Country” and “from God.”

Is anyone else inspired to go write some poetry now, or is it just me? Either way, Happy National Poetry Month!