Poets publish a series installment

Safia Elhillo and Hala Alyan published a new National Poetry Month installment on Elhillo’s Substack, extending a daily April poetry series now running in 2026. (safiamafia.substack.com) The post appears as “National Poetry Month #8,” which indicates it is the eighth entry in the run. Elhillo’s Substack homepage says she is “doing a 30/30” and sharing poems there alongside essays, drafts, and announcements. (safiamafia.substack.com 1) (safiamafia.substack.com 2) National Poetry Month is a monthlong April program created by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, and the group said March 26, 2026, that this year marks its 30th anniversary. The Academy describes it as a nationwide celebration built around free public programs, online features, and poetry events. (poets.org) That puts Elhillo and Alyan’s collaboration inside a bigger April publishing cycle that now includes newsletters and other direct-to-reader platforms, not only magazines and live readings. Elhillo’s newsletter is presented as a space for daily poems during the month, with regular posts continuing outside April. (safiamafia.substack.com) (poets.org) Elhillo is a Sudanese American poet whose books include *The January Children* from 2017, *Girls That Never Die* from 2022, and the novel in verse *Home Is Not a Country* from 2021. The Poetry Foundation says she also coedited *Halal If You Hear Me* and has held fellowships from Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg, Wallace Stegner, and Cave Canem. (poetryfoundation.org) Alyan is a Palestinian American poet, novelist, and clinical psychologist whose official site says she has published five poetry collections, including *The Twenty-Ninth Year* and *The Moon That Turns You Back*. Her novels include *Salt Houses* and *The Arsonists’ City*. (halaalyan.com) The pairing brings together two writers whose recent public biographies both center poetry and Arab diasporic literary work, but who publish across forms and audiences. The Academy of American Poets lists Alyan among its featured poets, while Elhillo’s page at the Poetry Foundation places her work across poetry, performance, and young adult verse. (poets.org) (poetryfoundation.org) The latest installment keeps the series moving on April 12, with more days left in a 30-day month and Elhillo’s stated plan to keep posting through the full “30/30.” For readers following National Poetry Month in real time, that means the collaboration is still unfolding one entry at a time. (safiamafia.substack.com 1) (safiamafia.substack.com 2)