In the ancient tradition of connecting poetry with the Olympics, this week NPR is hosting the NPR Poetry Games, a sports-inspired poetry contest.
All week NPR is bringing together poets from around the world who will recite their works in a friendly competition. The contest features the poets Kazim Ali from the United States; Ales Steger from Slovenia; Mbali Vilakazi from South Africa; Monica de la Torre from Mexico; and Ouyang Yu from China and Australia.
Every morning, NPR listeners can hear the poems read on the show Morning Edition. Listeners are invited to vote on their favorite poem at www.npr.org/poetrygames, where audio recordings and texts of the poems will be saved.
The press release has more details: “More on the series is available to audiences by following the Twitter hashtag #nprpoetrygames and in a conversation between Morning Edition host Renee Montagne and Olympics scholar Tony Perrottet about the ways poets through the ages have honored athletes, and competed for the poet’s laurel crown.” NPR will announce the winner on Friday August 10th.