The St. Augustine PoetFest is a celebration of creative writing and reciting. It is St. Johns County’s official recognition of National Poetry Month (April).

All events are free of charge and open to all, thanks to the support of Flagler College, St. Johns Cultural Council, and the Ancient City Poets.

Schedule of Events:

April 10, 2025

6 pm to 9:00 pm
Beat Poet Summit followed by community open mic hour
The festival kicks off with a Beat Poet Summit on Thursday night featuring ten minutes of podium time awarded to any past or present Beat Poet Laureate who gets "On the Road " like Kerouac, and travels to the Sunshine State. A community open mic will follow. The sign-up sheet for the open mic portion is available at 6 p.m. and open to the first 10 people. Please limit your time at the podium to five minutes.
Free open to the public event at the Waterworks.

Door open 6:00 pm - Showtime 6:30 pm
more info about the National Beat Poetry Foundation

April 11, 2025

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Flagler College campus
The festival continues during the day on Friday with author discussions, author talks, and a keynote presentation at the historic downtown campus of Flagler College. In the evening, the English Department will host an off-campus open mic.

First Floor Lobby, Ringhaver Student Center
50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084

Registration, Book Bazaar, and Festival Contact Center
9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Human Story
11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Collaborative project created by author Anastasia Forest offering opportunities for deep, insightful human connection, bringing people together from all walks of life for one-on-one conversations to help us to celebrate together what it means to be human.

Blackout Poetry Workshop
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the creative art form of blackout poetry, where existing text is used to create new poems by redacting (blacking out) unwanted words. Presented by Flagler College’s Proctor Library.

Virginia Room, Second Floor, Ringhaver Student Center
50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084

11:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. Virginia Room
Poet Spotlight
11:00 Dan Welch
11:15 Victoria Nations
11:30 Nicole Zwolinski
11:45 Bob Patterson
12:00 Su Zi
12:15 Cynthia Atkins
12:30 Maxwell
12:45 Dorsey Craft

1:00 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. Virginia Room
"Dolly Parton Poetry Workshop" with Dustin Brookshire

2:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. Virginia Room
"Not Knowing" Book Celebration Featuring authors J.M. White, Ron Whitehead, and photographer Lenny Foster
Four poets met at Thomas Merton’s hermitage at the Abbey of Gethsemani in rural Kentucky and compiled the poems on Merton’s desk. Learn about this enlightening project from a few of the collaborators.

3:30 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. Virginia Room
"Poetry, Noir, and More" Poet Larry Jaffe shares from his new book, "Only the Shadows Breathe", a blend of poetry and detective fiction.

4:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. Virginia Room
St. Augustine PoetFest Keynote Presentation by P.W. Covington, New Mexico Beat Poet Laureate (2024-2026)

6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Open Mic Event
Hosted by the English Department of Flagler College at Relampago Coffee Lab,
located at 74 Spanish Street. The signup sheet is out at 6:00 PM.
Join us for an evening under the stars.

April 12, 2025

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Flagler College campus

Programing continues with Student showcases, St. John County Library display, a Book Bazaar, a live staged play reading, author talks and panels, and featured poets. The festival concludes in the afternoon with an awards ceremony for the winners of the St. Johns Cultural Council Haiku Contest, followed by a reception.

Registration, Book Bazaar, and Festival Contact Center
9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
First Floor Lobby, Ringhaver Student Center
50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Featuring author recordings and publications, as well as displays by FLARE: The Flagler Review (Flagler College).

Typewriter Poet Rosa Sophia
11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Ringhaver Student Center, 1st Floor, located at 50 Sevilla Street
Become captivated by the allure of pounding typewriters keys. Rosa will compose poems on the spot with her vintage typewriter.

Virginia Room, Second Floor, Ringhaver Student Center
50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084

9:45 am to 10:50 am Virginia Room
Live staged reading of "Happier Than Madness" by Philip Butera. Featuring actress H.D. Eggleston. Presented by Rising Tide Productions.

11:00 am to 11:50 am Virginia Room
Flagler College English Department
Featured Flagler College Students
Indigo Carter, Marissa Kempf, Annella Rizzuto, Jaden Rudd

12:00 pm to 12:50 Virginia Room
Panel: Poets + Artists as Educators
Inspired by recent interviews for the FSPA Journal Of Poets and Poetry, this is a panel with mini-presentations and an interactive session with Poet-Educators and Artist-Educators. Moderator: Nikki Fragala Barnes (Poet/UCF)
Panelists: Vidhu Agarawal (Poet/Rollins), Tamara J. Madison (Poet/Valencia), Laura Mongiovi (Artist/Flagler), Jacob Z. Wan (Artist/UNF)

1:00 pm to 1:50 pm Virginia Room
"More Snakes Than People: Southern Gothic Florida Poetry"
Many see Southern Gothic literature as just recalling the "bad old days." This is not the case. There are still those places in Florida where you get hookworms by walking barefoot after an afternoon thunderstorm.
Poets: Ma Bones, Nick Dunkenstein, Cheri Eagerton Royal, Damon Thomas

2:00 pm to 2:50 pm Virginia Room
Traveling Poet Presentation by Tom Murphy,
Poet Laureate Corpus Christi (2021-2022), Texas

3:00 pm to 4:30 pm Virginia Room
Closing Event

Words from Norma Sherry
Past City of St. Augustine Poet Laureate

Presentation by Ann Browning Masters,
Present City of St. Augustine Poet Laureate

3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Presentation by St. Johns Cultural Council
"Winners of 5th Annual Haiku Contest".

Followed by Celebratory Reception on the Tinlin Landing
2nd Floor Lobby, Ringhaver Student Center
50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084

Date: April 10 - 12, 2025

Location: Various Venues in  Saint Augustine, FL 32084

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