Nine years ago, Nicole Sealey was startled to realize she had been so busy writing poetry, thinking about poetry and talking about poetry, she was no longer reading poetry.
That’s where it all began.
Sealey challenged herself to read a book of poems every day that August … 31 books in 31 days … and invited a few friends to join her.
And now?
Readers around the world will take part in the 10th annual Sealey Challenge that begins next weekend, and no one is more ready to get started than Tyler Meier, executive director at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.
“It’s such a fun idea, we really get into it,” he confessed. “I’ll be doing it, all our staff people will be doing it, and we’re happy to help anyone who’s looking for suggestions. Just come by the Poetry Center, grab a book or a chapbook, and find a comfortable place to read.”
People are also reading…
The Poetry Center now manages the Challenge on Sealey’s behalf, promoting awareness, posting reading lists and managing its social media platforms.
The Sealey Challenge has more than 10,000 followers on social media — many of whom post “shelfies” with their favorite books — but Meier said it is impossible to know just how many people are taking part.
Tyler Meier, executive director of the UA Poetry Center.
“There are no signups, no formal way to register,” he said. “From the beginning, Nicole wanted to make it easy to participate. Anybody can get involved, at any level they want: 31 books, 5 books, one book … If you read something you wouldn’t normally read, even if it’s just one poem, you’re one of us.”
Sealey, who was born in the Virgin Islands and raised in Florida, debuted with an award-winning collection called “Ordinary Beast” in 2017. That same year, she became the executive director at the Cave Canem Foundation, an arts organization in Brooklyn that supports Black poets and promotes Black poetry.
The days were too long, the nights too short.
“At some point I realized I hadn’t been reading,” she would recall. “I could count on one hand the collections I’d read the first half of the year. As a poet, that’s a no-no, a big no-no, so I decided to jump back in.”
A fellow poet and friend, Dante Micheaux, effectively named the program by creating the hashtag #thesealeychallenge.
The annual midsummer read-along found thousands of new followers during the pandemic, and the numbers have been growing steadily ever since.
The Poetry Center estimates that last year’s Challenge participants read some 238,000 books, making it the largest poetry-reading initiative in the world.
Meier said the Sealey Challenge has become an important part of the center’s “belonging” project, an effort to create community and connection through poetry.
“We’re creating spaces where people can feel welcome, and curating works that people will find interesting and meaningful,” he said. “When we read a book, we’re establishing a relationship with the author. When we talk about it with others, we’re creating even more. Poetry can be a great tool to help people experience connection.”
First-timers wanting to learn more about this year’s Sealey Challenge should visit poetry.arizona.edu.
Reading recommendations can be found at poetry.arizona.edu and library.pima.gov.
The Poetry Center will be open Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., throughout the month of August, and is again sponsoring “Sealey Challenge Bingo” — using a poetry-centric bingo card that can be found at poetry.arizona.edu.
At month’s end, bingo winners will be entered into a drawing for free books.
Need more books? On Aug. 13, the Poetry Center will hold an informal Sealey Challenge book swap from 6 to 8 p.m. at Bar Crisol, 196 W. Simpson St. in Barrio Libre.
“Ten years in, it’s remarkable how much has come out of such a single, simple action,” Meier said. “A woman said I’m going to read some books, feel free to join me, and look what that’s become. It’s something we look forward to every year.”
Footnotes
Novelist Kristin Harmel will be in Tucson next weekend to celebrate the release of her newest book, “Meet Me in Paris.” The Stacks Book Club store at 2920 E. Broadway will welcome Harmel Saturday evening, Aug. 1, at 7 p.m. For tickets, visit stacksbookclub.com/.
The Poetry Center’s last Summer Social of the year, featuring artist Jacinda Russell and poet Hannah Larrabee, will be Sunday, Aug. 2, in the Century Room at Hotel Congress. The program will begin at 4 p.m. For more, visit poetry.arizona.edu/calendar.
“The Season of Light and Darkness,” a dystopian thriller for young adults by Tucson author Jillian Cantor, will be available at local bookstores Aug. 3. It is Cantor’s second release in three months. “The May House” debuted on May 11.
Nicole Sealey’s relationship with the Poetry Center dates to 2021, when she joined John Murillo and Hanif Abdurraqib for a program that was part of the center’s Art for Justice series. In the spring of 2023, she was the center’s Writer in Residence.
