April – National Poetry Month & Jazz Appreciation Month

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.
To know more about National Poetry Month and how to celebrate it go to 

http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41

Each April, Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) shines the spotlight on the extraordinary history of jazz and its importance in American culture. Through concerts, lectures, films, and other programs, JAM encourages people of all ages to attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, study the music, and support institutional jazz programs.

Launched at the Museum in April 2002, JAM added to the Smithsonian Institution’s 30-year record of leadership in jazz. The Smithsonian operates the world’s most comprehensive set of jazz programs—including exhibitions, publications and recordings, concerts, workshops, master classes, lectures, symposia, and fellowships for research in jazz. The Museum collects jazz artifacts, documents, recordings, and oral histories, and sponsors the Institution’s own big band, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.
To know more go to 

http://americanhistory.si.edu/events/programdetail.cfm?newskey=43