Camden Festival of Poetry May 20


  • May 02, 2023

RICHARD BLANCO WILL KEYNOTE THE FIRST ANNUAL CAMDEN FESTIVAL OF POETRY 

 

The first annual Camden Festival of Poetry will take place on Saturday May 20, from 1 - 5 pm, in the First Congregational Church of Camden. Admission is free, and all are welcome.  

 

The festival will feature inaugural poet Richard Blanco, who received the National Endowment for Humanities Medal from President Biden on March 21 2023.  In addition there will be readings by poets Maya Stein, Margaret Haberman, John Paul Caponigro, Ellen Goldsmith, Jason Whitney and Lucinda Zeising, plus music by Jud Caswell, John & Rachel Nicholas, and Dave Morrison. Following an opening round of poetry, workshop/discussion groups will take place with a variety of topics including: Lyrics and Songwriting, Eco-Poetry, Art & Poetry, Found & Black-out Poems, How to Read a Poem, and Poetry as Memoir: Family Narratives, among others.  There will be a book fair with poets presenting their publications, refreshments, and the Gabriel Zimpritch Poet of Promise award given to a young writer. A "poetry walk" will take place that morning, with young writers reading their poems displayed in the "Poems in Windows" project on store windows throughout Camden. 

 

Richard Blanco is one of the most beloved and influential poets and storytellers writing today. A historic presidential inaugural poet (2013 for Barack Obama's second inauguration), Blanco was recently honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities for “breathing life into the identity and idea of America.” He is a public speaker, teacher and memoirist, and recent inaugural poet for Governor Mills; he continues to travel the world, inviting audiences to reconnect to the heart of the human experience and all of its beautiful diversity.  

 

An American Sign Language interpreter will be present for the readings and keynote. For more information please visit www.thepoetscorner.org/festival.  The festival is supported by a large number of Midcoast arts and cultural institutions, business, and individual sponsors in order to provide this free community experience. Please see a list of sponsors at www.thepoetscorner.org/festival.

 

Camden Festival of Poetry is a nonprofit organization

founded by Meg Weston and Mark S. Burrows.

 

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Dave Morrison

3 Park Street
Camden  ME  04843-1817 

207-542-8064
Dave_Morrison_moc.kooltuo@teop