Today’s poetry news roundup looks at an animation series based on the life of a poet, the designs for the Maya Angelou coin and the Poet Laureate’s A-Z tour.

Sadi’s Bustan Appears in Animation Series

An animation series is in production in Iran which will be based on the famous Bustan of Sadi, the 13th-century Iranian poet.

The series will be titled “Travels of Sadi” and will be made up of 26 episodes, spread over 2 seasons. It is being produced to mark National Sadi Day, which falls on 20^th April and is celebrated annually. The inspiration for the series is the poet’s most famous work, Bustan – The Orchard. He is also known for Gulistan which means The Rose Garden.

Sheikh Muslih od-Din Sadi Shirazi, more commonly referred to as Sadi, was born in 1213 and died in 1291. He is considered to be one of the greatest literary figures of Persia.

Designs Revealed for Maya Angelou Quarter

We have previously reported about the program from the United States Mint to honour 20 different women under the title Women Quarters Program and can now reveal that the preliminary designs for the Maya Angelou coin, the first one in the series, have been unveiled.

The designs will feature on the reverse of the quarter and will be minted between 2022 and 2026. A total of 7 different designs have been proposed for the tribute to Dr Angelou. A couple of them feature an image of the poet whilst they all have one thing in common and that is the image of a bird in honour of the poets most famous book “I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing” – the birds in question range from simple images of a bird, often with a cage, to an origami bird and a fountain pen nib in the shape of a bird.

These designs will now go before the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee for review before a final decision is made. The design on the obverses side of the coin will depict George Washington, however, this design will differ from other quarter programs that have taken place in the past, and several alternative designs will also be being considered.

Poet Laureate Begins His A-Z Tour

Last year, when he was appointed as the poet laureate, Simon Armitage laid out his plans for what he called his A-Z tour. He planned to give readings in libraries all over the country, working his way through the place names in alphabetical order to celebrate the work that libraries do.

The first library on his list is Ashby in Leicestershire where he will host his first reading on 26^th April at 11 am – he has picked Ashby as its full name contains both the first and last letters of the alphabet (Ashby de la Zouch). Over the course of the next decade, Armitage will be taking one week each spring to visit the libraries on his list.

The event which will be free will also be live-streamed from each library.

The poet is hoping to celebrate the importance of the physical space that is the library and bring his own works back into a place that over the years has given him so much. The village library where he grew up had a huge influence on his life and influenced his career path to work in education.