Host a Valentine's Day Poetry Party

Meredith Tabscott
Jan 21, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Dec 3, 2024

On this Below-Zero January Sunday,

I helped my daughter Mimi throw an early, little Valentine's lunch for her best friend, Avery. The two of them have been hibernating in this late-January deep freeze, so it was nice to spruce up the table with some fresh flowers, chocolate hearts, and color therapy with pinks and reds.

Of course I enlisted them to test out some popular teen poetry from Rupi Kaur and Yung Pueblo. As both girls have recently endured breakups, these poets were the right call. Both are introspective and inspiring in an approachable way.

In case you're unfamiliar, these two poets are great ones to keep or gift, especially to teens and young adults.

Rupi Kaur is a a Canadian poet and illustrator of Indian descent who gained fame with her debut collection Milk and Honey in 2014. Known for simple yet impactful verses, she explores themes of love, feminism, and healing, achieving widespread success with subsequent collections. You'll see Rupi Kaur books in stores catering to teenagers, which is cool.

Similarly, Yung Pueblo's work often centers around themes of self-discovery,

mindfulness, and personal growth. Young Pueblo gained popularity through his presence on social media platforms, where he shares his poetry and insights. I had pinned a lot of his poetry before I realized it was his. His collections, including Inward and Clarity & Connection, have resonated with a wide audience seeking wisdom and reflection.

The girls plan to plant their books eventually. When your mom (and pretend mom) is The Not So Secret Book Club Founder, you sort of have to, right? However, seeing that poetry is something you want to enjoy in smaller, consistent doses rather than one hearty all-in-one-sitting-session, we'll wait a while. Planting poetry books in the spring seems like a good idea, don't you think?

Throwing a Book Party is Easy

Here are some ideas for throwing a Valentine's Day Poetry Party for your own kids (and pretend kids):

Decorations

I bought two bouquets from Trader Joes and scattered them among mason jars and teeny vases from the Michaels' clearance rack. We dressed the table with a simple red and white striped tablecloth, and super-cute cherry heart plates and napkins from Target.

Food

I love serving our hometown Fitz's red soda (because it's the cutest color red) even though the girls opted for milkshakes instead.
We carried-in Shake Shack's burgers, fries, and shakes.
With the milkshakes, we didn't need extra desserts, so we displayed some foil-wrapped chocolate hearts in bowls and called it a day.
Other easy food ideas that almost made our cut were make-your-own-panini stations, pizza delivery, or top-your-own heart waffles.

Activities

Mimi and Avery played Taylor Swift while they browsed poems and painted their nails.
Other easy ideas that we're saving for next time are making bead bracelets, making origami fortune tellers, decorating Valentine's boxes, writing Valentine's cards, and/or prank calling boys.
Another activity, of course, is tagging books with The Not So Secret Book Club stickers and planning their drops. (Part of the fun of planning a book drop is thinking, "Where would a person go who would totally love this poetry book, too?")

Poetry Extensions

All the English teachers in the room, these are for you! If you are prone to taking your V-day

party further, it would be cool if

each party attendee chose a poem from their book that made them of someone else at the table and even better,
if the attendee wrote that poem on a special card which the recipient could use as a bookmark, or
if the special poems were transcribed on notecards and anonymously compiled in the center of the table to be read aloud and then connected to a person at the table ("Oh, that one is definitely _________ because__________...").
You can also have a magnetic poetry contest. Individuals or pairs create magnetic poems and then vote for the best ones. (This works best when you have 4 or more people at your party.) It's fun to have prizes for categories like "Most Likely to Be A Greeting Card," "Things to Say to Your Lame Ex," or "Best Metaphor/Simile," or "Most Hilarious." You get the idea.