River of Words Flows Through Cumming Library

April is National Poetry Month and the Cumming Library is celebrating with a special traveling exhibit of art and poetry on display April 17 through 30.

Beautiful Swan by Austin Kim

The River of Words exhibit features the art and poetic work of students across Georgia. River of Words is a nation-wide competition that is coordinated locally in our state by the Georgia Center for the Book and Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), a program of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Each year, students in grades K – 12 are invited to create visual art or poetry that shows a deep understanding and appreciation of the natural environment and their local watershed. Winners in Forsyth County include students from Shiloh Point, Matt, and Brookwood elementary schools.

The exhibit is touring across Georgia and most recently stopped at Shiloh Point Elementary School. The Cumming Library is the last stop on the schedule for the River of Words exhibit. It will return to the Georgia Center for the Book at the Decatur Library in May to be refitted with winning poems and art from the 2017 competition. Those winners are expected to be announced in May.

On the opening day of the River of Words exhibit, the Cumming Library will host a Wacky Poems program for children in grades 3 – 5 at 4:00 p.m. The program will encourage students to explore and enjoy various types of poetry by being silly and playing with words.

“Library staff will help participants learn about limericks, haiku, and free verse by reading popular poems and playing poetry-themed games. Participants can then write their own poetry and have the option to display it in the library in honor of the River of Words exhibit,” explains program manager Laura Bradley.

Teens and adults can also celebrate their love for poetry during the River of Words exhibit when they stop by the Blackout Poetry station.

Blackout poetry is created by taking a page from a novel or newspaper article and coloring over unwanted words with a black marker, leaving only the writer’s desired words that create a poem or tell a story.

A Blackout Poem inspired by the watershed and wildlife themes of the River of Word Exhibit.

“The library will provide recycled book pages for participants to use at the station. Poets who wish to display their completed blackout poems can give them to a library staff member to display in the library in honor of the River of Words exhibit,” adds Bradley.

The River of Words exhibit is suitable for all ages and may be visited during the library’s regular hours.

For more information about the exhibit or programs at the library, please visit www.forsythpl.org.