Celebrate National Poetry Month with Shakespeare, Taylor Swift and the Okie Poet

By Zoe Elrod, Internal Communications CoordinatorCover photo features poet Wilma McDaniel

April is National Poetry Month, and the library is offering several ways to celebrate. Whether you're flexing your creativity through Poem-a-Day activities, crafting new works at Bethany Library’s Blackout Poetry event, or testing your literary knowledge at Capitol Hill Library’s "Taylor Swift or Shakespeare?" game, there’s something for everyone.

To close out the month and kick off May, four special events will celebrate the life and work of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, the "Okie Poet," whose plainspoken, evocative poetry captured the struggles and resilience of Dust Bowl migrants.

Discover McDaniel’s poetry and her journey from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl at these upcoming events. In 1936, McDaniel’s migration from a sharecropper shack in the Oklahoma hills to California’s San Joaquin Valley was filled with hardship as her family struggled in labor camps.

McDaniel began writing at age eight and was first published at 14 near her hometown of Stroud. However, it wasn’t until her mid-fifties, during the small press renaissance of the 1970s, that she gained wide recognition, publishing 50 collections over the next four decades.

McDaniel is known for her powerful reflections on workingclass life, rural hardship, and the dignity of labor. Her work provides an authentic account of the Dust Bowl era, with experiences paralleling John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” McDaniel dedicated herself to preserving the stories of migrant families like hers, ensuring their experiences were not forgotten.

During these upcoming events, library attendees will hear from biographer Betty Blanks about her relationship with McDaniel and the shared migration stories of their families—McDaniel’s journey to California in 1936 and Blanks’ in 1947. The two first met in the mid-1990s, and their friendship deepened when Blanks became McDaniel's caretaker in her final years.

Blanks, raised in the San Joaquin Valley and a practicing lawyer in Visalia for over 30 years, had a deeply personal relationship with Wilma during the last 14 years of her life. After retiring from law, Blanks was encouraged to tell McDaniel’s story. She said she hopes new readers will find the same inspiration she found in McDaniel's writing.

“If you can get somebody to read a poem of Wilma's, they’re usually an immediate fan,” Blanks said, reflecting on McDaniel’s lasting impact.

Blanks will share excerpts from her intimate biography “Pick Up Your Name and Write,” inspired by McDaniel’s poem "Naming a Poet." The title tells the story of a young girl growing up in poverty, where someone calls out to her, "pick up your name and write," a command McDaniel followed throughout her life. Blanks’ biography explores McDaniel’s spiritual transformation, from her evangelical Pentecostal roots to Catholicism, and the family and community support that shaped her literary journey.

“This biography covers her experience as a young girl trying to find her voice as a writer,” Blanks said.

Through both this biography and the upcoming events, Blanks aims to honor McDaniel's powerful voice, share her admiration for McDaniel’s poetry, and connect to her migration story.

“I’m hoping to be able to interest people in her work again,” she said.

After Blanks’ presentations, OSU Oral History Professor and Librarian Karen Neurohr will discuss McDaniel’s literary legacy and lead participants in poetry-writing exercises inspired by her style. These programs, designed for high school students and adults, offer an opportunity to explore McDaniel’s poetic voice and purchase Blanks’ biography on her life and work. Celebrate the power of poetry and the lasting impact of this Oklahoma born poet, whose words continue to resonate today.

Pick Up Your Name and Write Your Poetry and The Urban Poets

April 28 at 6 p.m. at Midwest City Library

Join Blanks and Neurohr for a presentation and writing exercises, followed by an Open Mic Poetry Night with the Urban Poets. Poets of all skill levels are welcome to share their work or enjoy performances from fellow writers.

Pick Up Your Name and Write Poetry

April 30 at 6 p.m. at Edmond Library

Another chance to join Blanks and Neurohr for a presentation, hear from the biographer, immerse yourself in her poetry, and try your hand at writing exercises.

Pie, Poetry and the Life of Okie Poet Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel

May 1 at 2–3 p.m. at Del City Library and 6-7:30 p.m. at Bethany Library

These events offer another opportunity to explore Wilma McDaniel’s legacy —while enjoying pie, a recurring symbol in McDaniel’s poetry. Representing sustenance, connection, and resilience during the Dust Bowl era, pie holds both cultural and practical significance. Blanks will read McDaniel’s pie-themed poems, celebrating its deeper meaning in her work.