2026 April PAD Challenge: Guidelines
Announcing the 19th annual April Poem-A-Day Challenge! Here are the guidelines for this fun poeming challenge starting on April 1.
Lately, I've been writing a lot of poems daily. So we must be closing in on April.
In just one month, we'll start meeting here each and every day to poem for the 2026 April Poem-A-Day (PAD) Challenge. Past participants have included poets from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Germany, India, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa, and several other countries. This will be our 19th annual poeming challenge!
Poets who have published multiple collections write alongside people who may not even consider themselves poets (but learn over time they actually are). Nobody is too overly qualified or inexperienced to participate. All are welcome and encouraged to break lines together, whether the poems rhyme or don't.
Personally, I've written more than a thousand first drafts from the various prompts on here (and I tend to write even more poems on the side that I don't share on the site). I hope you'll join me this year.
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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What is the April PAD Challenge?
PAD stands for Poem-A-Day, so this is a challenge in which poets write a poem each day of April. Usually, I'll post a prompt in the early morning hours (Atlanta, Georgia, time), and poets will write a poem in response.
Some poets share those poems in the comments on each particular post; others keep their words to themselves. I don't require comments to participate, but it does make it more fun when poets are sharing with each other.
Who can participate?
Anyone who wants to write poetry—whether you've been writing all your life or just want to give it a shot now, whether you write free verse or traditional forms, whether you have a certain style or have no clue what you're doing. The main thing is to poem (and yes, I use poem as a verb).
I should also note that I'm pretty open to content shared on the blog, but I do expect everyone who plays along in the comments to play nice. There have been moments in the past in which I've had to remove or warn folks who got a little carried away with negativity and attacks. My main goal is to make the challenge fun for all—and a safe space to poem.
(That said, please send me an e-mail if you ever feel like someone is crossing the line. I don't want to act as a censor—so don't use me in that way—but I do want to make sure people aren't being bullied or attacked in the comments.)
Where do I share my poems?
If you want to share your poems throughout the month, the best way is to paste your poem in the comments on the post that corresponds with that day's prompt. For instance, post your poem for the Day 1 prompt on the Day 1 post in the comments.
You'll find folks are pretty supportive on this site. And if they're not, I expect to be notified via e-mail.
Note on commenting: If you wish to comment on the site, go to Disqus to create a free new account, verify your account on this site below (one-time thing), and then comment away. It's free, easy, and the comments (for the most part) don't require manual approval. That said, I will be checking daily during the month of April (just in case any comments are flagged as pending or spam).
Here are some more April PAD Challenge guidelines:
- Poeming begins April 1 and runs through May 1 (to account for time differences in other parts of the world—and yes, poets all over the world participate).
- The main purpose of the challenge is to write poems, but I also will attempt to highlight my favorite poems of the month from poets who post their poems to each day’s blog posts. Some years this works out better than others.
- Poem as you wish, but I will delete poems and comments that I feel are hateful. Also, if anyone abuses this rule repeatedly, I will have them banned from the site. So please "make good choices," as I tell my children.
Other rules, questions, concerns, etc?
If you need any other questions answered, put them in the comments below, and I'll revise this post as needed.
Other than that, I can't wait to start poeming in April!
