September 16, 2010

Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival October 7-10


The 4-day Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is now just 3 weeks away. Marking its 24th year, this largest poetry event in North America will be held in New Jersey's largest city - Newark.

The hope is to create a “poetry village” in the heart of the city’s arts district around the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. They will be using not only NJPAC's state-of-the-art concert halls, but also intimate cabaret rooms and prime meeting spaces within nearby cultural institutions, museums, galleries and churches to ensure a rich, varied experience for all festival-goers.

Amiri Baraka
Billy Collins


A Poetry Sampler reading on Thursday evening, October 7th, launches the Festival.

Events will be held in venues accommodating anywhere from 100 to over 2,700. The evening programs, long the centerpiece of the Festival, will be held in NJPAC’s Prudential Hall: a world-class performance space for a world-class poetry event. As in the past, interludes of music and storytelling will underscore the spirit of community.

The relocation also makes the Festival more accessible than ever before. As one of the largest mass-transit hubs, Newark is home to an international airport, major bus lines, a light-rail system and PATH service from Manhattan. This will enable more visitors to leave their cars behind and further the Dodge Foundation’s ongoing commitment to creativity and sustainability as we plan toward a “greener” Festival.

The full Festival schedule is now posted online as a printable pdf document, so you can plan when and where Festival Poets will be reading, as well as what topics they will weigh in on, and who will be performing alongside them.

Rita Dove


Sharon Olds

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