Y'all might get real tired of me in August... (aka "Sealey Challenge 2025")

What is the Sealey Challenge, you ask? Let me explain... 😄

What’s the Sealey Challenge?

Read a poetry book every day in August. That’s it. There are more decorative bits around that, if you feel like adding them (a bingo card, a digital archive of recorded poetry readings, a “start here” reading list, a Challenge certificate you can fill out for yourself — all of these available at the Sealey Challenge website, whence I got the links), but really, just reading a poetry book every day in August is what it’s all about.

If it seems too hard…

If you’d like to try this hike yourself but the mountain seems too steep, here are some step-down options (and if you choose one of these, you are also a winner! You’re getting poetry into your life! And that always wins 🏆):

1. Read from a poetry book every day in August—however many poems your schedule will allow, even if it’s only one. (To step this up a little bit, read from a different poetry book every day. Hit up your local library if you need to—this is a great way to find poets you will love, who you may not have had a chance to read before.)

2. Listen to a poem every day in August. Here are some great sources:

   1. The aforementioned digital archive, the VOCA Audiovisual Archive at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.

   2. Poetry Foundation website (using the “Related Audio” filter).

   3. Podcast: The Well Read Poem.

   4. Podcast: The Slowdown. (This is a great podcast for a poem plus a tiny bit of talk about it — episodes are typically 7-9 minutes long.)

   5. Podcast (and/or mailing list): Poem-a-Day. (In the left sidebar, there’s a link to audio and a “Subscribe” button that opens the links to subscribe to the podcast on various platforms.)

   6. Podcast: Audio Poem of the Day.

3. Watch a poetry video every day. YouTube has lots of great poetry; one of my favorite sources is Button Poetry, but there’s also poetry me, please, and many others. I have a few poetry videos up on my channel (https://www.youtube.com/@DaviGray), too.

4. Write a poem every day. (This might be harder than the original Sealey Challenge 😅.)

But what are you reading, Davi?

I thought you’d never ask! 🤭

First, a teaser….

How many of the books in this photograph can you identify (by author and/or title)?

How many do you currently have on your shelves?

How many have you read?

(For book nerds) How many of the publishing imprints can you identify?

(Please don’t put spoilers in the comments; feel free to post in the chat about these books with your guesses and/or knowledge!)

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I’m going to try to be a little bit fancy about the challenge: a post every day, with a reveal of that day’s book (and a link to where you can buy your own copy, if available), and a teaser of the next day’s book cover. I reserve the right to throw all that extra business aside if it gets to be too much 😉.

In the meantime, hie thee to a library and pick up some poetry books! (Hennepin County library has a great selection, if you’re in Minneapolis, as well as a list of lists of poetry recommendations by users.)