Dig into poetry’s impact, diversity with these events

Of course April is National Poetry Month, and Luisa Igloria of Norfolk — Virginia’s poet laureate — is setting up and hosting events. Her aim: to spread the word about poetry’s impact and magic and to celebrate the diversity of poets in Virginia.

Tonight brings the second of two readings, with open mic. These “Poems for Our Living and Breathing” ask, “What is poetry’s role in civic engagement, and in the world at large?” This Zoom event,

5 to 6:30 p.m., features poets from ODU’s English Department, where Igloria teaches. Register to attend live at tinyurl.com/2tzbdujk. The Muse Writers Center, where she also teaches, later will post a recording on Facebook. The first reading — with Poetry Society of Virginia members — is viewable at tinyurl.com/ 35jf29fy.

Another project: Poem-a-Day Virginia, highlighting the work of Virginia poets and produced with the Slover Library: www.sloverlibrary.com/national-poetry-month.

As for Igloria’s poetry, her latest collection is “Maps of Migrants and Ghosts.” Find a copy of the new (and last) Distinction magazine for Victoria Bourne’s thoughtful piece about her.

Amanda Gorman’s ”The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country” sold nearly 215,000 copies in its first week, Publishers Weekly reported. ... Recommended: Vogue’s interview with the poet, who’s been writing since she was about 5.

In Case You Missed It: Mike Pence has a seven-figure, two-book deal with Simon & Schuster. CNN cited two publishing sources as saying the deal is “somewhere in the range of $3 million to $4 million.” The former vice president’s autobiography is due in 2023. The subject of the second book wasn’t disclosed. The deal, CNN noted, lands as the industry wrangles with “how to handle high-profile would-be authors from the Trump administration. The concern ... is whether the writers could be counted on to tell the truth — and whether a publisher might provoke a damaging backlash in the culture of cancellation.”

In the Pipeline: J.K. Rowling’s kids’ book “The Christmas Pig” is due Oct. 12. The deal has renewed criticism of her views on transgender issues. (Publishers Weekly)

Awards: To Emma Ramadan, the PEN Translation Prize, for her work on “A Country for Dying,” a novel in French by Morocco’s Abdellah Taïa. Other PEN awards included, to poet Ross Gay, the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for “Be Holding: A Poem”; for science writing, Jonathan Slaght, “Owls of the Eastern Ice”; for essays, Barbara Ehrenreich, “Had I Known.”

Obituary notes: John Naisbitt, futurist and author of “Megatrends,” was 92.