National Poetry Day 2014

It's one of my favourite days of the year - National Poetry Day! To celebrate on the Write Path international collaborative writing project we will be working on collaborative poems on Poetry Day theme of Remember. We have fantastic starter stanzas from Tommy Donbavand, Eleanor Updale, Graham Marks, Jane Prowse, Lucy Coats & Dave Cryer, looking forward to seeing how our brilliant young writers continue them. I love poetry but probably didn't make enough time for it in the past but I have read & listened to much more this year thanks to some fantastic poetry apps:
1. My favourite poetry app has to The Love Book , a wonderful collection of romantic poetry with recordings of the poems from fab actors e.g. Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Watson. You can record your own readings of the poems too but honestly I spend most time on the recordings made by Tom Hiddleston, sigh! 
2. I have to say I've never been a particular fan of Shakespeare (closes ears to shocked intakes of breath all over the place!) but the Sonnets app is beautifully produced and has helped me to feel warmer towards the bard. The app certainly isn't cheap but it can now be purchased as an app bundle with two other excellent apps, The Waste Land & Seamus Heaney:Five Fables and you do get a lot of bang for your buck. Within the app you have a reproduction of the first published edition of the Sonnets, Arden Shakepeare's complete notes , perspectives & performances of all 154 sonnets by well know names such as Patrick Stewart & David Tennant (yes, Dr Who reading Shakespeare, what's not to like?!).
3. To This Day from Moving Tales is a thing of beauty, which is no surprise because all of their apps are fab. It is a collaborative animation of this poem written and performed by Shane Koyczan. A very moving poem about bullying & depression, the animations add to the power of the reading and make this a fully immersive experience. The audio narration is in English but you can change the language of the text to French or Spanish if you prefer.
4. Poetry Station is the app version of a fantastic website packed with videos of authors reading their own poems. The app is similarly full with amazing poetry and you can browse by poems, poets or topics. You will need a network connection for this one, I particularly love the Michael Rosen videos. Only slight irritation I have with the app is the constant change from portrait to landscape but this doesn't mar the content.
5. I am a lover of war poetry and Wilfred Owen is one of my favourite poets so Owen had a headstart with me. There are thirty five poems on this app with audio narration, illustrations and video academic critiques along with an introduction from Owen's nephew, Peter.
6. Last but by no means least Penguin's Poems by Heart does what it says on the tin - allows you to memorise poetry. It includes poems from poets such as Edgar Allan Poe & Emily Dickinson & uses brain training methods to help make memorising easier and fun. You gain achievements & high scores along the way and each poem features original art and 2 readings.

Happy Poetry Day everyone, enjoy the rhyme time!