Past Festivals
2022 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 18th Annual Virtual Palm Beach Poetry Festival Workshop Faculty included: Kim Addonizio, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Chard deNiord, Mark Doty, Yona Harvey, John Murillo, Matthew Olzmann, and Diane Seuss. Our Special Guest Poet is Yusef Komunyakaa. Poet-at-Large is Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Individual conference faculty poets are: Lorna Knowles Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs, and Angela Narciso Torres. The 18th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place virtually January 10-15, 2022. Old School Square in Delray Beach is undergoing extensive renovations. … Read more >

2021 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 17th Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place January 18-23, 2021 and was held virtually. Workshop and featured faculty poets included David Baker, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Traci Brimhall, Eduardo C. Corral, Vievee Francis, Kevin Prufer, Martha Rhodes and Tim Seibles; our Special Guest Poet, Gregory Orr, performed in a Palm Beach Poetry Festival film recording of “The Beloved: A Poetry & Song Cycle with The Parkington Sisters (with hats off to the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival for the first filmed version … Read more >

2020 Palm Beach Poetry Festival

The 2020 Workshop Faculty included Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Nickole Brown & Jessica Jacobs, Reginald Gibbons, Major Jackson, Ilya Kaminsky, David Kirby, Dana Levin, Adrian Matejka, and Maggie Smith. Our Special Guest was U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo; and Patricia Smith, as the festival’s Poet-at-Large visited and performed for students in the Palm Beach County Schools. Conference Faculty included Lorna Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, and Angela Narciso Torres. Six days and evenings of extraordinary workshops, talks on craft, Q&As, panel discussions, readings, book … Read more >

2019 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 15th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place January 21-26, 2019. Faculty included: Ellen Bass, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Stuart Dischell, Aracelis Girmay, Campbell McGrath, Gregory Pardlo, Matthew Olzmann, Chase Twichell, Eleanor Wilner, Lorna Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown and Stephen Gibson. Special Guest: Sharon Olds, and Poet-At-Large, Tyehimba Jess. Nickole Brown and Jessica Jacobs co-taught a workshop. Attending festival events offered several opportunities to be inspired by some of America’s most engaging and award-winning poets. Read more >

2018 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 14th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, January 15-20, 2018, Delray Beach, Florida was presented in loving memory of Thomas Lux. 2018 Workshop Faculty included: Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Chard deNiord, Beth Ann Fennelly, Ross Gay, Rodney Jones, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Tim Seibles. Our Special Guest, poet Coleman Barks, was interviewed by Chard deNiord and featured at the Annual Gala Reading. Performance Poets were Elizabeth Acevedo and Aja Monet, and the Conference Faculty were Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown, and Lorna … Read more >

2017 Palm Beach Poetry Festival

                  The 13th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place in Delray Beach, Florida, January 16-21, 2017, and participants enjoyed six days of extraordinary poetry events: workshops, readings, talks on the craft of writing poems, manuscript conferences, panel discussion, social events and so much more in beautiful downtown Delray Beach, Florida. Faculty poets included: David Baker, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Tina Chang, Lynn Emanuel, Daisy Fried, Terrance Hayes, Dorianne Laux, Carl Phillips, and Martha Rhodes. Our Special Guest … Read more >

2016 Palm Beach Poetry Festival

The 12th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place January 18-23, 2016 at Delray Beach Center for the Arts in beautiful downtown Delray Beach, Florida. Six days and evenings of extraordinary poetry events featured workshops, readings, craft talks, interviews and panel discussions, workshops and more. The 2016 workshop faculty included: Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Carl Dennis, Denise Duhamel, Carol Frost, Thomas Lux, Tom Sleigh, Mary Szybist, and Kevin Young. Special Guest is Robert Hass, and coffee house headliners, Dominique Christina and Mark … Read more >

2015 Palm Beach Poetry Festival

The 11th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held January 19-24, 2015. Our faculty included Chard deNiord, Linda Gregerson, Thomas Lux, Maurice Manning, Molly Peacock, Brenda Shaughnessy, Patricia Smith, and Robert Wrigley. We presented six days of reading events, interviews, craft lectures, and, of course, poetry workshops. Malcolm London and Rachel McKibbens headlined the annual coffee house and performed for local high school audiences. Additional conference faculty Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Nickole Brown, and Ginger Murchison taught one-on-one conferences. Our special guest poet was Dana … Read more >

2014 Palm Beach Poetry Festival

The 10th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held in Delray Beach at Delray Beach Center for the Arts, January 18-24, 2014. Participants enjoyed six days of readings, lectures, craft talks, and poetry workshops. The workshop faculty included: Nick Flynn, Carolyn Forche,  Linda Gregg, Thomas Lux, Campbell McGrath, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Mary Ruefle, and Tim Seibles.  Our Special Guest Poet Natasha Tretheway (United States Poet Laureate 2012-2014) presented the 10th Anniversary Gala Reading, Taylor Mali and Glenis Redmond served as the festival’s … Read more >

2013 Palm Beach Poetry Festival

The 9th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place January 21-26, 2013 at Delray Beach Center for the Arts in beautiful downtown Delray Beach, Florida. January 21-26, 2013. Six days and evenings of extraordinary poetry events featured workshops, readings, craft talks, interviews, panel discussions and more. The 2013 workshop faculty included: B.H. Fairchild, Terrance Hayes, Jane Hirshfield, Tony Hoagland, Laura Kasischke, Thomas Lux, Lisa Russ Spaar, and Tracy K. Smith. Conference faculty this year were: Nickole Browne, Sally Bliumis Dunn, and … Read more >

2012 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 8th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held from January 16-21, 2012, in Delray Beach. The faculty poets were Kim Addonizio, Cornelius Eady, Claudia Emerson, David Kirby, Thomas Lux, Gregory Orr, Chase Twichell, and Eleanor Wilner. The festival featured Special Guest Charles Wright, Pultizer Prize and National Book Award winner. Vanessa Hidary and Jamaal May were this year’s performance poets. Additional conference faculty included Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Kurt Brown, and Ginger Murchison. 2012 Workshops THE SHIMMER: METAPHOR IN THE MACHINE OF WORDS … Read more >

2011 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 7th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival took place January 17-22, 2011 at Old School Square in Delray Beach. 2011 Faculty included Stuart Dischell, Jane Hirsfield, Thomas Lux, Heather McHugh, Vijay Seshadri, Alan Shapiro, Ellen Bryant Voigt, and C.D. Wright. Special Guest Reader was former US Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky. The Performance Poets were David Blair and Taylor Mali. Participants from over 30 states, U.K., British Columbia and the Bahamas attended the festival. Two public events sold out, including Robert Pinsky’s reading … Read more >

2010 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 6th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held at Old School Square in Delray Beach, Florida, January 18-23, 2010. The poets who taught Advanced Workshops included: Stephen Dobyns, Carolyn Forche, Marie Howe, Thomas Lux, David Wojahn, and Kevin Young. Mary Cornish and Ilya Kaminsky facilitated the Intermediate Workshops. Other Featured Readers were Jay Hopler, Sidney Wade, Andrea Gibson, and Anis Mojgani. 2010 Advanced Workshops THE POEM’S INTENTION with STEPHEN DOBYNS ONE POETRY: TOWARD NEW POEMS with CAROLYN FORCHE WORD BY … Read more >

2009 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

          The 5th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held January 19-24, 2009, at the Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach. Faculty poets featured at the 2009 Festival were: Denise Duhamel, Martin Espada, Kimiko Hahn, Laura Kasischke, Thomas Lux, Ann Marie Macari, Gregory Orr, Victoria Redel, and Gerald Stern. Additional guest poets who were featured readers at the festival were: Kelle Groom, Michael Hettich, Taylor Mali, and Lynn Procope. 2009 Advanced Workshops BARBARIC YAWP with MARTIN ESPADA … Read more >

2008 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 4th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held from January 21-26, 2008, at the Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach. Featured poets were: Kim Addonizio, Roger Bonair-Agard, Claudia Emerson, Lola Haskins, Major Jackson, Thomas Lux, Marty McConnell, Campbell McGrath, Malena Morling, Sharon Olds, Spencer Reece, and C.K. Williams. 2008 Advanced Workshops Stealing Fire with Kim Addonizio; Delight to Wisdom with Claudia Emerson; Word by Word, Line by Line with Thomas Lux; Poetry Is Priceless with Campbell McGrath; Generating New Work with Sharon Olds; and Re-conceiving Poems with C.K. … Read more >

2007 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 3rd Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival was held from January 24-27, 2007, at the Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach, Florida. The poets featured at the 3rd Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival were: Mark Doty, Stephen Dunn, Barbara Hamby, David Kirby, Dorianne Laux, Thomas Lux, Jeffrey McDaniel, Heather McHugh, Alan Shapiro, Patricia Smith, Quincy Troupe, and Ellen Bryant Voigt. Read more >

2006 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 2nd Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, presented in partnership with Old School Square, Delray Beach, took place January 19-22, 2006. Workshop Faculty included: Advanced Workshops: Tony Hoagland, Jane Hirshfield, Galway Kinnell, Thomas Lux, Marilyn Nelson, Sharon Olds and Intermediate Workshops: Laure-Anne Bosselaar, and Kurt Brown. The Florida Poets Reading featured Susan Mitchell and Campbell McGrath. PBPF_2006_Flyer (pdf)   Read more >

2005 PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL

The 1st Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, January 21-23, 2005, was presented at Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida, in partnership with Poets of the Palm Beaches, Inc. and directed by Miles Coon. The 2005 workshop faculty included Billy Collins, Thomas Lux, Sharon Olds and Patricia Smith. Additional featured poets included Mary Cornish and Karin deWeille. Read more >