Festivals & Live Poetry Events
Austin International Poetry Festival
Each April (National Poetry Month), the Austin International Poetry Festival brings poets from around the globe to the bookstores, bars, coffeehouses & streets of Austin, Texas. Visit the Web site to read selections from their annual anthology, DiVerseCity, & come on down!
Each April (National Poetry Month), the Austin International Poetry Festival brings poets from around the globe to the bookstores, bars, coffeehouses & streets of Austin, Texas. Visit the Web site to read selections from their annual anthology, DiVerseCity, & come on down!
BardFest
stevenallenmay & his BardWire were ready on-the-spot for National Poetry Month 1999 - 2002 with BardFests, filling every day of the April calendar with poetry.
stevenallenmay & his BardWire were ready on-the-spot for National Poetry Month 1999 - 2002 with BardFests, filling every day of the April calendar with poetry.
Beall Poetry Festival
This annual spring festival, sponsored by the Baylor University English Department, brought Denis Donoghue, Galway Kinnell and Linda Pastan to Waco in April 2004.
This annual spring festival, sponsored by the Baylor University English Department, brought Denis Donoghue, Galway Kinnell and Linda Pastan to Waco in April 2004.
BYTES of Bryant Park
BYTES of Bryant Park was a jumbo jambalaya arts fest in the throb heart of NYC on September 17, 1997. Poets hung out, virtually and physically, at the Gertrude Stein Statue. Sponsoring site-specific arts org Webbed Feats [link=http://www.webbedfeats.org/prod/arch.html]archived featured pieces[/link] from the event at their Web site.
BYTES of Bryant Park was a jumbo jambalaya arts fest in the throb heart of NYC on September 17, 1997. Poets hung out, virtually and physically, at the Gertrude Stein Statue. Sponsoring site-specific arts org Webbed Feats [link=http://www.webbedfeats.org/prod/arch.html]archived featured pieces[/link] from the event at their Web site.
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury is the biggest & most essential annual hippified music fest in Europe and possibly the whole world, 80,000+ unwashed, happy and, well, you get the idea... with a healthy amount of West of England/Celtic legend and mysticism thrown in, King Arthur, ley lines, ancient magic, etc....
Glastonbury is the biggest & most essential annual hippified music fest in Europe and possibly the whole world, 80,000+ unwashed, happy and, well, you get the idea... with a healthy amount of West of England/Celtic legend and mysticism thrown in, King Arthur, ley lines, ancient magic, etc....
An Incomplete History of Slam
One of the great sites is Kurt Heintz’s e-poets.net, where An Incomplete History of Slam lives -- incomplete only because the movement continues to evolve.
One of the great sites is Kurt Heintz’s e-poets.net, where An Incomplete History of Slam lives -- incomplete only because the movement continues to evolve.
LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival)
The LEAF Festival brings artists, musicians & poets to Camp Rockmont in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains (the former home of Black Mountain College) for extended weekend jams in May & October which include the LEAF poetry slam moderated by Slammaster Jim Navé.
The LEAF Festival brings artists, musicians & poets to Camp Rockmont in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains (the former home of Black Mountain College) for extended weekend jams in May & October which include the LEAF poetry slam moderated by Slammaster Jim Navé.
Ledbury Poetry Festival
Touted by British Laureate Andrew Motion as “the best in the country,” the annual poetry festival in Ledbury, a medieval market town near the foot of the Malvern Hills in the UK, offered 10 days of workshops, readings, guided walks and “The Complete History of Poetry in 1 hour 27 minutes” in 2003.
Touted by British Laureate Andrew Motion as “the best in the country,” the annual poetry festival in Ledbury, a medieval market town near the foot of the Malvern Hills in the UK, offered 10 days of workshops, readings, guided walks and “The Complete History of Poetry in 1 hour 27 minutes” in 2003.
National Poetry Slam, Inc.
Slam has evolved over the years into both a family & a corporation. Gary Mex Glazner, producer of the first Nationals, says “The National Poetry Slam was created as a hive for poets. To let those troubadours get to know each other’s honey. To form a comb of readings. To give their voices wings. Here is your megaphone, sting poets, sting.”
Slam has evolved over the years into both a family & a corporation. Gary Mex Glazner, producer of the first Nationals, says “The National Poetry Slam was created as a hive for poets. To let those troubadours get to know each other’s honey. To form a comb of readings. To give their voices wings. Here is your megaphone, sting poets, sting.”
National Poetry Slam 2004
Nationals returned to its birthplace, Chicago, for its 10th anniversary in 2003. This year the giant annual gathering of American performance poets is in St. Louis, Missouri, August 3 - 8.
Nationals returned to its birthplace, Chicago, for its 10th anniversary in 2003. This year the giant annual gathering of American performance poets is in St. Louis, Missouri, August 3 - 8.
National Poetry Slam 1998
Mike Henry, Juliette Torrez & Phil West coordinated the 1998 Nationals in Austin, Texas. At the archive site are a photo gallery of black-&-whites from the competition, scores from all 4 nights, bios of the competitors & a collection of press coverage. And who better to guide you through the intricate Slam policies than Anne Sexton?
Mike Henry, Juliette Torrez & Phil West coordinated the 1998 Nationals in Austin, Texas. At the archive site are a photo gallery of black-&-whites from the competition, scores from all 4 nights, bios of the competitors & a collection of press coverage. And who better to guide you through the intricate Slam policies than Anne Sexton?
North American Poetry Jam
Instigator extraordinaire Bowerbird Intelligentleman put together the first NAP JAM in Las Vegas in March 1998 -- performance poetry squared, slam sans scores plus big video.
Instigator extraordinaire Bowerbird Intelligentleman put together the first NAP JAM in Las Vegas in March 1998 -- performance poetry squared, slam sans scores plus big video.
People’s Poetry Gathering
Billed as “a Woodstock for Words in lower Manhattan,” the People’s Poetry Gathering highlighted the tradition of sharing poetry in performance in 1999 & again in 2003, boasting a stellar lineup of voices from various parts of the world & poetic traditions.
Billed as “a Woodstock for Words in lower Manhattan,” the People’s Poetry Gathering highlighted the tradition of sharing poetry in performance in 1999 & again in 2003, boasting a stellar lineup of voices from various parts of the world & poetic traditions.
Poesie Festival Berlin
Literaturwerkstatt Berlin produces this annual international festival of poets at the end of June. In 2003 it focused on the coexisting cultures of Australia, in 2004 on San Francisco Beat, Ireland & the Celtic languages, and in 2005 on the Spanish-speaking world -- but always attention is given to the connections of poetry & music & film (e.g., the affiliated Zebra Poetry Film Award).
Literaturwerkstatt Berlin produces this annual international festival of poets at the end of June. In 2003 it focused on the coexisting cultures of Australia, in 2004 on San Francisco Beat, Ireland & the Celtic languages, and in 2005 on the Spanish-speaking world -- but always attention is given to the connections of poetry & music & film (e.g., the affiliated Zebra Poetry Film Award).
Poetry and the Public Sphere
Poetry and the Public Sphere was the title of the conference on contemporary poetry at Rutgers in spring 1997. Adrienne Rich, Robert Hass, Sonia Sanchez, Charles Bernstein, Meena Alexander, & our own Bob Holman all were there, breaking down the walls and living to write about it.
Poetry and the Public Sphere was the title of the conference on contemporary poetry at Rutgers in spring 1997. Adrienne Rich, Robert Hass, Sonia Sanchez, Charles Bernstein, Meena Alexander, & our own Bob Holman all were there, breaking down the walls and living to write about it.
Poetry Festivals
The International Poetry Festival in Medellin, Colombia offers this directory of poetry gatherings all over the world.
The International Poetry Festival in Medellin, Colombia offers this directory of poetry gatherings all over the world.
Poetry International Rotterdam
This truly international, multilingual festival is staged in the Netherlands each June, featuring poets from all over the world. This year’s festival is the 35th (!) and includes a tribute to Pablo Neruda, a special focus on holy books, & an “International World Slampionship.”
This truly international, multilingual festival is staged in the Netherlands each June, featuring poets from all over the world. This year’s festival is the 35th (!) and includes a tribute to Pablo Neruda, a special focus on holy books, & an “International World Slampionship.”
The Scream Literary Festival
If you can’t dream it, scream it. Toronto’s annual “Carnival of the Spoken Word” began as a single June evening in High Park, but over the past 12 years it’s evolved into a full-grown festival, from late June to mid-July.
If you can’t dream it, scream it. Toronto’s annual “Carnival of the Spoken Word” began as a single June evening in High Park, but over the past 12 years it’s evolved into a full-grown festival, from late June to mid-July.
StAnza, Scotlands Poetry Festival
Now in its 9th year, the March StAnza festival in St. Andrews is the only Scottish arts festival specifically devoted to poetry. It features Scottish poets, both resident & expatriate, introcuces Scottish audiences to poets from all over the world, and makes a point of promoting readings in foreign or minority languages like Catalan, Romanian, Scots & Shetlandic.
Now in its 9th year, the March StAnza festival in St. Andrews is the only Scottish arts festival specifically devoted to poetry. It features Scottish poets, both resident & expatriate, introcuces Scottish audiences to poets from all over the world, and makes a point of promoting readings in foreign or minority languages like Catalan, Romanian, Scots & Shetlandic.
Taos Poetry Circus & World Heavyweight Poetry Bout
Your Guide Bob Holman challenged Sherman Alexie in the 2000 World Heavyweight Poetry Bout, the culminating event at the week-long annual Taos Poetry Circus. See his “Boutpreppome” elsewhere on this site for poetical details.
Your Guide Bob Holman challenged Sherman Alexie in the 2000 World Heavyweight Poetry Bout, the culminating event at the week-long annual Taos Poetry Circus. See his “Boutpreppome” elsewhere on this site for poetical details.