Week One of Jazz and Poetry Month 2025

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We are celebrating both Jazz Month and Poetry Month in April 2025! We are pairing a poem written either in Wisconsin, by a Wisconsinite, or about Wisconsin with a jazz song produced in Wisconsin, by a Wisconsinite, or about Wisconsin each day.

Read and listen to this week's featured poems and jazz, and nominate an artist or an arts organization to be included in the Poetry Month and Jazz Month tandem spotlight.

Find the full Jazz Month 2025 Youtube playlist here.

Day One

For the first day of Poetry and Jazz Month 2025, we are spotlighting « Against Insularity » by Brenda Cárdenas, the current Wisconsin Poet Laurate, and « We the People » by Ben Sidran, a Wisconsin-raised jazz and rock musician.

Learn more about the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission, an organization that plays a crucial role in keeping the arts accessible and vital to all age groups, and acts as a statewide emissary for poetry and creativity.

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Day Two

We are spotlighting « Poem in Which We Count the Weeks Backward » by J.L. CONRAD, a Madison-based poet, and « Mornin’ » by Milwaukee native and jazz artist, Al Jarreau.

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Day Three

We are spotlighting « What Stays: A Poem that Remembers » by Denise “Dee” Sweet (Anishinaabe, White Earth), Faculty Emerita for the UW System, and « Snake Charmer » by Viola Smith, legendary jazz drummer born in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin.

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Day Four

We are spotlighting « The Lake is Mother to Us All » by Christopher Kolon, Kenosha Poet Laureate, and « Pete The Pontiac » by John Altenburgh, jazz and blues artist from Mosinee, Wisconsin.

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Keep up with the Jazz month and Poetry Month celebrations on our socials (Instagram, Facebook), and check back next week for more amazing poems and songs!