April is National Poetry Month, and we’ve been looking for ways to celebrate the art of verse and Minnesota’s wealth of poetic talent.

There could be no more fitting celebration than the upcoming Great Twin Cities Poetry Read, a live reading event featuring more than 25 of the finest poets from the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota and beyond.

What sets the annual Great Twin Cities Poetry Read (GTCPR)  apart from other poetry readings — aside from the multitude of presenting authors — is that each participating poet reads an original, unpublished poem of his or her choice.

Hosted by poet Matt Mauch, the third annual GTCPR will take place on Saturday, Apr. 21, 2012, on the campus of Hamline University.

The poems read at the GTCPR will be anthologized — along with essays, reviews, interviews, comics and other prose about poetry by participating poets — in the forthcoming installment of  “Poetry City, USA” (Vol. 3).

(“Poetry City, USA, Vol. 2” will have its book launch concurrent with this year’s GTCPR.)

This year’s participating poets include Seth Berg, Betsy Brown, Peter Campion, Kara Candito, Feng Sun Chen, John Colburn, Carol Connolly, Lightsey Darst, Gary Dop, Kelly Everding, Adam Fell, Terri Ford, Dobby Gibson, Matthew Guenette, Dylan Hicks, John Jodzio, Deborah Keenan, Rebecca Lehmann, Carrie Lorig, Adrianne Mathiowetz, Dan Nowak, Juliet Patterson, Lynette Reini-Grandell, Paige Riehl, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Jeffrey Skemp, Erik Tschekunow, Ryan Vine, Michael Walsh, Cary Waterman and Jenny Cropp Yang.

For updates on participating authors, visit Great Twin Cities Poetry Read and Road Show.

Time: 7-10 p.m.
Date: Saturday, Apr. 21, 2012
Place: Hamline University, 1536 Hewitt Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104
Cost: Free