Poetry Festivals

Celebrations of poetry from around the English-speaking world

Banjo Patterson Australian Poetry Festival

Join the community of Orange, NSW and its surrounding villages in a week of bush poetry events. This will be a special festival as the Rotary Club of Orange is partnering with the Australian Bush Poets Association to host the National Bush Poetry Performance Championship competition in association w...

When: February

    Where: Orange, NSW AU

Beall Poetry Festival

A three-day celebration of some of the finest contemporary poets, with readings, a panel discussion, and the Virginia Beall Ball Lecture on Contemporary Poetry. ...

When: March

    Where: Waco, TX US

City of Writers Poetry Festival

In honor of National Poetry Month, Gloria Muñoz, the City of St. Petersburg Poet Laureate, has partnered with community organizations and businesses to host events in all pockets of St. Pete to highlight and celebrate the local poetry influence in the Sunshine City. Known as a City of the Art...

When: April

    Where: St. Petersburg, FL US

Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference

The only writers conference focused entirely on book-length & chapbook-length poetry manuscripts. Founded by poet Joan Houlihan, the conference is held 9-10 times a year in locations around the United States and consists of book-length and chapbook-length poetry manuscript reviews by editors and pub...

When: October

    Where: Acton, MA US

Dodge Poetry Festival

The Dodge Poetry Festival is widely acknowledged as the largest poetry event in North America, representing the most eminent poets from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. These four-day celebrations of poetry have been called "poetry heaven" by former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, &...

When: October

    Where: Newark, NJ US

Edmonton Poetry Festival

The Edmonton Poetry Festival is staged annually in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Hundreds of word artists from Edmonton and across the country come together to celebrate written and spoken verse. ...

When: April

    Where: Edmonton, AB CA

Henry Lawson Festival

The Henry Lawson Festival is an annual event held in Grenfell, NSW on the June long weekend. Grenfell is the birthplace of Henry Lawson, one of Australia’s best loved poets and writer of short stories. 2015 was the 58th year of the festival, and it was a fantastic event. ...

When: June

    Where: Grenfell, NSW AU

Long Song for Summer II Poetry Festival

A day-long festival organised by the87Press, F(r)ictions and Camden Art Centre, focusing on live poetry, short film, and music. It will continue to prioritise intersectionality, representation, and experimentation with form and style to bring to audiences new, profound, and exciting poetry alongside...

When: June

    Where: London, England UK

Massachusetts Poetry Festival

During the first weekend of May, Salem becomes the epicenter of contemporary American poetry, offering rare opportunities to hear the nation’s best poets read and discuss their work in intimate and engaging forums. The Massachusetts Poetry Festival showcases nearly 100 poetry readings and work...

When: May

    Where: Salem, MA US

New York City Poetry Festival

Every summer, The New York City Poetry Festival invites poetry organizations and collectives of all shapes and sizes to bring their unique formats, aesthetics, and personalities to the festival grounds, which are ringed with a collection of beautiful Victorian houses and tucked beneath the wide, gre...

When: July

    Where: New York, NY US

Oracles of the Bush

Tenterfield’s Oracles of the Bush is a four day cultural event encompassing live performance of Australian Bush poetry, music and art. The timing of the event is set to coincide with Tenterfield’s brilliant autumn - April is resplendent in a cloak of red, orange, gold and yellow providing the pe...

When: April

    Where: Tenterfield, NSW AU

Peoples Poetry Fest

The Peoples Poetry Festival began in 2015, through the collaboration of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Del Mar College. This annual poetry festival brings together poets from the local area, regionally, state-wide, and beyond. ...

When: February

    Where: Corpus Christi, TX US

Plunkett Poetry Festival

The Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival, held in April each year, was established in 2002 to honor the memory and accomplishments of Terry Plunkett, an English professor at the University of Maine at Augusta for nearly thirty years. ...

When: April

    Where: Augusta, GA US

Poetry International Rotterdam

Poetry International Rotterdam presents the most noteworthy poetry of the groundbreaking great masters, alongside that of new and original poetic talents from around the world. ...

When: June

    Where: Rotterdam, NL

StAnza Poetry Festival

StAnza is Scotland’s annual international poetry festival, bringing poetry in all its forms and many languages to Scottish audiences and worldwide. Since the festival was founded by three local poets in 1998, StAnza has gained a truly international reputation. In 2021 our achievements were recogni...

When: March

    Where: St Andrews, Scotland UK

Strokestown International Poetry Festival

The festival consists of readings from poets across the spectrum, well-known and new voices - approximately twenty-four readings over three days. The Strokestown festival is famous for the large audiences that attend all readings and allied to the welcome, the friendliness and the scenery, the festi...

When: May

    Where: Strokestown, Co. Ros IE

VERSeFest

VERSeFest is Ottawa’s annual International Festival of Poetry. Built on a mandate of fostering creative crossroads and community, we feature English and French poetry of all traditions, styles, and forms. Since 2011, we have showcased the best local, Canadian, and international poets performing in...

When: March

    Where: Ottawa, ON CA

Verses Festival of Words

The mission of the Verses Festival of Words is to celebrate the transformative power of words - written, spoken or sung; to engage diverse groups in cutting-edge, live performances as both audience and participants; to present influential artists from both the oral and literary traditions, and to en...

When: April

    Where: Vancouver, BC CA

WCU Poetry Center Poetry and Creative Arts Festival

Working with a shared respect and understanding of craft, The Poetry and Creative Arts Festival gives poets and critics, musicians, as well as visual and performing artists opportunities to forge connections across disciplines, to delve into innovative approaches to artmaking, to engage new media an...

When: June

    Where: West Chester, PA US