Those interested in poetry may already know that April is National Poetry Writing Month- sometimes referred to by its shortened name ‘NaPoWriMo’. Similarly, those actively engaged in the poetry community may know of the ‘Escapril’ challenge. 

 

The ‘Escapril’ challenge was first initiated by the author, poet and influencer Savannah Brown in 2019, although it is still thriving today. The aim of the challenge is for participants to write a poem a day, based on the list of prompts that Brown posts (one for each day). After writing the poem, participants are encouraged to share their work on social media, under the ‘Escapril’ hashtag. It may not be the first daily poem challenge that the internet has spawned, but it is definitely one of the most popular and has encouraged many other prominent social media poets to create their own lists of poetry prompts for their followers to use. Not only does Escapril push the creative boundaries and comfort zones of poets by challenging them to write daily about a topic that they have not chosen, but it also creates a poetry community of sorts. Under the hashtag, writers can view other people’s poems to see how others have crafted their own works and how the prompt has been interpreted differently. 

 

The name of the challenge originates from the idea of writing as a form of escape. And as April is National Poetry Writing Month, there is no better time to escape into poetry! In an interview with Obscur Magazine, Brown said that she wanted “to create a centralised and curated community space,” with Escapril, which she has no doubt achieved.