2022 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

Join us for six days of virtual workshops, readings, talks on the craft of writing poems, manuscript conferences, panel discussion, social events and so much more. Apply today!

Our virtual workshops offer participants the perfect opportunity to focus on their work with other serious writers of poetry in a small online group led by one of our extraordinary faculty poets. Auditors will receive all handouts for the workshops, but their role is to listen. In the afternoon, you can attend a craft talk, participate in a virtual open mic, and/or attend an interview event. Evening Readings are scheduled daily throughout the festival and feature one or more of our faculty poets and special guest poets. One-on-one, hour-long conferences with selected poets are available for reservation when you complete your workshop application.

Once you’ve made a cup of coffee or tea in your kitchen, you’ll attend your workshop via your computer and Zoom link to spend the morning in the capable hands of your workshop leader, workshop intern and fellow poets. Lunch is on you. Take a walk or a nap before returning to your trusty cyberspace nook for an afternoon craft talk with Q & A, an opportunity to learn poetics from our renowned poet-teachers. Between 4:00 and 6:00 pm, the daily schedule offers a variety of events we encourage you to attend. Afterward, you’ll have two hours of free time for dinner and/or homework before our nightly poetry readings.

Yusef Komunyakaa

Some highlights of the upcoming festival week are: Special Guest Poet Yusef Komunyakaa’s interview with Laure-Anne Bosselaar; Komunyakaa’s  delivery of the Thomas Lux Memorial Reading on the heels of publication of his latest collection, Everyday Mojo Songs of Earth: New & Selected Poems (FSG 2021); A Special Evening and Reading To Remember with Poet At Large Aimee Nezhukumatathil, whose love of the natural world and poems have delighted her readers always. Her most recent work is a collection of essays, World of Wonder, a New York Times Bestseller and NPR Best Book of 2020. She will be visiting schools throughout the Palm Beach County School District. The Beloved Poems Panel, where faculty workshop poets each read and discuss a poem that has influenced them personally or has made an impact on their writing is a favorite. Virtual, Smirtual — performing online could never dim any of these poets’ brilliance.

Think about it. You can travel to the 18th Annual Virtual Palm Beach Poetry Festival without taking off your slippers. You can use the money you save on airfare and hotels to buy more poetry books from Murder on the Beach, the official festival bookstore and have your book virtually signed in a private breakout room with your poet of choice. You can buy a bottle of delicious wine and some hors d’oeuvres to bring with you to our Za Za Zoom Cocktail Party in lieu of our traditional gala. We want you to feel the same creative and social energy through your computer screens that you would in person, and you will. Why? Because Poetry Brings Us Together.