New York City Poetry Festival
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New York City Poetry Festival July 25-26

Credit: The New York City Poetry Festival
Credit: The New York City Poetry Festival

The fifth annual New York City Poetry Festival returns to Governors Island on July 25-26 in Colonel’s Row Park. The featured poets this year are Nick Flynn, Patricia Spears Jones, David Matlin, and Fran Quinn. The headliners will be reading for The Poetry Society of New York at 3pm on the Algonquin Stage on Sunday, July 26.

Admission is free and open to the public. Kids are welcome and the hours are 11 AM to 6 PM both Saturday and Sunday. All information is on the group’s site and Facebook page.

Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski founded the New York City Poetry Festival in the summer of 2011. The purpose of the New York City Poetry Festival has been to liberate poets and their work from the dark corners of bars, bookstore, and coffee shops and their halogen-lit college campuses, and to bring together as many NYC poets as possible, in the bright light of day, to meet, mingle, and collaborate. Fostering an open, approachable, diverse, innovative, sharp, and culturally prominent literary community lies at the core of The Poetry Society of New York’s mission. While there are still a few entrenched poetry establishments, for many writers and artists, and even the general public, they can seem remote and inaccessible; The Poetry Society of New York aims not only to bridge these gaps, but to unify this city’s poetry community in ways never before thought possible. By opening doors to diverse and unique artistic interactions, the New York City Poetry Festival electrifies arts and literature, brings poetry to new light in the public eye, and ultimately, allows New York City the be rightful center of the poetry world.

The New York City Poetry Festival is programmed entirely by the organizations that make poetry readings happen in this city. If you would like to read at the festival, organizers suggest that you contact your publisher, collective, reading series, or other organization with which you are associated and encourage them to apply to host a reading at the event. If you’re just starting out and aren’t a part of a larger poetry organization, they suggest that you bring some poems and read at the Ring of Daisies open mic.

The event is free. However, if you register for the event on Eventbrite and then check in at the entrance when you arrive, you can enter to win a New York City Poetry Festival tote bag filled with personalized signed copies of books by Paul Muldoon, Mark Doty, Joyelle McSweeney, and Matthea Harvey.

The Typewriter Project, sponsored by Literary Manhattan at the Festival, is a series of site-specific literary installations that encourage users to go analog. These typewriter installations—wooden booths with a seat, desk, and typewriter inside—allow professional writers and first time typists alike to join in a citywide linguistic exchange. Each booth is outfitted with a 100-foot scroll of paper and a USB typewriter kit, which allows every written entry to be collected, stored, and posted online for users to read, share, and comment upon. The Typewriter Project intends to investigate the subconscious of the city by creating unique spaces designed for contemplation.

Event Schedule

Saturday, July 25th
THE ALGONQUIN STAGE
11:00am: Boundless Tales Reading Series
11:30am: NeuroNautic Institute Poetry Workshop
12:00pm: Augury Books
12:30pm: Blunderbuss Magazine
1:00pm: Fractal Ensemble
1:30pm: Couplet Reading Series
2:00pm: DenimSkin
2:30pm: First Tuesdays
3:00pm: C. Bravo Productions LLC
4:00pm: Coldfront
4:30pm: Jujo Reading Series
5:00pm: Four Way Books

THE WHITE HORSE STAGE
11:00am: WHITE RABBIT
11:30am: Bodega Magazine
12:00pm: Mayapple Press
12:30pm: Gypsy Unicorn
1:00pm: The Poetry Brothel
1:30pm: Lawless Curatorial
2:00pm: Phantom Books
2:30pm: No, Dear
3:00pm: Sibling Rivalry Press
3:30pm: Union Square Slam
4:00pm: GWFM Spoken Word Sundays
4:30pm: The Poetry Project
5:00pm: The Feminist Poets in Low-Cut Blouses

THE CHUMLEY’S STAGE
11:00am: Big-Lucks
11:30am: Twenty-Four Hours
12:00pm: Writers Studio
12:30pm: National Writers Union New York
1:00pm: Big Words, Etc.
1:30pm: The Mackinac
2:00pm: RA “R!” Araya’s Waking Up The Muses
2:30pm: Quail Bell Magazine
3:00pm: Newtown Literary
3:30pm: Fuego de Luna
4:00pm: The New York Browning Society
4:30pm: Nostrovia! Poetry
5:00pm: Underground Books

Sunday, July 26th
THE ALGONQUIN STAGE
11:00am: Poets on Growth
11:30am: Yes Poetry
12:00pm: Poets of Corsi
12:30pm: Argos Books
1:00pm: The Operating System
1:30pm: Deadly Chaps Press
2:00pm: Oh Bernice!
2:30pm: Poor Mouth Poetry
3:00pm: The Poetry Society of New York
4:00pm: VIDA: Women in Literary Arts
4:30pm: la perruque
5:00pm: A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA

THE WHITE HORSE STAGE
11:00am: LetItFlow Publishing
11:30am: Brownstone Poets
12:00pm: Other Rooms Press
12:30pm: Capicu Culture
1:00pm: The Poetry Brothel
1:30pm: Luna Luna
2:00pm: the sensation feelings journal
2:30pm: Slapering Hol Press
3:00pm: Brooklyn Poets
4:00pm: Electric Pumas
4:30pm: Suffern Poetry
5:00pm: Pen Pal Poets

THE CHUMLEY’S STAGE
11:00am: Bard Avenue Poets
11:30am: YesYes Books
12:00pm: Ampersand Books
12:30pm: Soul Sister Revue
1:00pm: Kattywompus Press
1:30pm: The Adroit Journal
2:00pm: Apogee Journal
2:30pm: Poetry Teachers NYC
3:00pm: Drew University MFA in Poetry & Poetry in Translation
3:30pm: Hunt & Light
4:00pm: The Red Wheelbarrow Poets
4:30pm: At The Inkwell
5:00pm: Kiss Punch Poem

Kevin C. Fitzpatrick has written and edited seven books with ties to New York history, including "The Governors Island Explorer's Guide" and "World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War." Kevin is a licensed sightseeing guide and has been leading walking tours since 1999. He resides in Manhattan.