Why You Should Participate In The Sealey Challenge This Year
Reading poetry is one of my absolute most favorite things to do. I love browsing the stacks at my local bookstores and discovering new books of poetry and even uncovering a few hidden gems by beloved writers. But I don’t always make the time to sit down and get lost in the words within the pages. That’s why I was ecstatic to discover The Sealey Challenge last year.
Created in 2017 by poet and educator Nicole Sealey, The Sealey Challenge encourages people to read 31 books of poetry in 31 days during the month of August. These can be full-length collections or chapbooks, the goal is simply to read a different book all the way through every day. The Challenge’s website particularly encourages people to pick books by marginalized poets and recommends selecting books that can be read in one day (chapbooks can be especially helpful for this), using your time throughout the day wisely, and returning to the books you choose, even after the Challenge ends.
Sealey, author of Ordinary Beast, said in an interview with LitHub in 2019 that she started the Challenge when she realized she hadn’t been reading for pleasure as much as she wanted. She said, “On a whim, I put out a call across social media asking folks to join me in reading a chap or book of poems per day for the month of August.” And as the saying goes, the rest is history.
During the month of August, I love seeing my Twitter and Instagram feeds fill with the covers and spines of poetry books tagged #TheSealeyChallenge (or sometimes #SealeyChallenge), the colorful stacks instantly inspiring me to add another book (or two) to my shelf. I love discovering new poets and seeing some of my personal favorites being celebrated.
I came across the Challenge last summer and, with the pandemic, decided to participate while still staying home. By the end of the month, I felt reinvigorated in my love of poetry by all the beautiful work I had read. My choices ranged from smaller chapbooks like Getting Stitches by Rudy Francisco to longer collections like Kaveh Akbar’s Calling a Wolf a Wolf. I read full-length collections in a day that I had been meaning to read for years. Picked up chapbooks from some of my favorite indie presses that brought joy, and sometimes heartache, to my day. Relished in seeing the books other people were reading, some of which I added to my own bookshelves.
Most of all, though, I loved getting to be part of and be inspired by such an amazing community of poetry lovers and it’s one of the things I’m most excited for this year (in addition to reading a new set of books!). Sealey herself told The Rumpus in an interview last year that “community was part of the point of that initial call” and it has certainly grown over the years. Just enter the hashtag into Twitter or Instagram and you’ll see thousands of book stacks and poetry lovers promoting their recommendations and favorite authors.
I can’t recommend participating in The Sealey Challenge enough. So get your reading lists ready and prepare to be inspired by all the beauty and togetherness that poetry has to offer.
