Celebrity Poets

By Barbara Card Atkinson

Back in 1996, when artistic integrity meant something and Garth Brooks turned down an American Music Award because he thought Hootie and the Blowfish had made the bigger contribution that year to the arts, the Academy of American Poets declared April Poetry Month. Poetry, like music, crossed cultural and emotional boundaries. It connected us to the author with a mere handful of carefully chosen words. Who better to stir these intimate emotions; who better to whip up this zesty plate of word magic than celebrities? Celebrity poetry is moving. It's transformative. It's as delicious as Cheetos. And best of all, it's often totally weird. Here are our top choices for the poets better known for (and, for the most part, rightly so) their day jobs.