National Poetry Day has brought verse to Christchurch.

Urban poetry project Poetica held a breakfast poetry reading at the former Beggs music store in Colombo St yesterday.

Helped by Gap Filler, the project has produced the Instant Poetry Wall that allows Cantabrians to scribble verse on the wall.

Poets can take a picture of their work and post it on the Poetica Facebook page.

The four poems that prove the most popular will be painted on to the wall.

Siobhan Harvey, National Poetry Day organiser and published poet, encouraged people to throw caution to the wind.

"National Poetry Day isn't just for established poets, it's also for people who simply want to give poetry a go," she said.

"So if you harbour a desire to perform a piece of your own, this is the time to throw caution to the wind."

Poet Kerrin Sharpe and Ilam School deputy principal Barbara Bowron, with the help of parents, have created a poetry tree to mark the occasion.

Pupils take weekly creative writing lessons with Sharpe and have written their own poems.

These have been laminated and attached to a tree in the school grounds.

Sharpe teaches creative writing at several Christchurch schools and holds weekend classes at the Hagley Writers' Institute, based at Hagley Community College.

She said it was wonderful seeing pupils so engaged with creative writing. "We all want to tap into that natural creativity, but we all lose it as we get older."

- © Fairfax NZ News