The Belfast Poetry Festival celebrates poetry and artistic possibility. One of the few community-based, non-academic literary festivals in the country, the Festival is an inclusive and collaboration-driven event that gives poets, artists, and audience broad opportunity to make connections, share ideas, and discover possibilities for the arts beyond the merely expected. The Festival joins poets and artists in collaborative work that stretches the limits of each medium. We bring together established, recognized poets and emerging voices, a broad range of genres and techniques, poets from different regions across the state, and a mix of the familiar and the innovative.

Throughout the weekend:

Magnetic Poetry Stations
Throughout Downtown Belfast
Make Your Own Poetry While You Take In The Autumn Air! Magnetic Poetry Boards Will Be Set Up And Ready For You To Make Your Mark.

Lattice Work With Crissy Liu
Pop-Up Maker Stations!
This Collaborative Sculpture Project Combines Elements Of Simplicity, Community, And Scale. Using The Printer Paper And Scotch Tape Provided, Participants Will Gather To Help Construct Building “Blocks.” As The Work Progresses, The Growing Crystal Structure Expands Quickly Into A Large Geometric Array Whose Size Is Limited Only By The Space In Which It Is Built. Lattice Work Is An Homage In Equal Parts To Buckminster Fuller And To The Early American Quilting Bee; To Rigorous Mathematical Thought And To The Convivial Pleasure Of Craft. Join Us On Sunday, October 20 At The Belfast Boathouse For A Community Assembly Activity!

Poetry Chapbook Exhibit With Bloof Books
Waterfall Arts
Blue Hill-Based Collaborative Press Bloof Books Presents An Exhibit Of Poetry Books. Founder Shanna Compton Will Be Hosting Walkthroughs Throughout The Weekend.

Scavenger Scrolls
Throughout Downtown Belfast
Follow The Trail Of Poems Hand-Scribed On The Windows Of Downtown Belfast Businesses. Go Inside The Shop To Collect A Stamp On A Bingo-Style Card, And Collect As Many Stamps As You Can To Be Eligible For A Prize At The Closing Poetry Picnic On Sunday, October 20.

Schedule:

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Belfast poet laureates
Reading and reception
6:30 p.m: Waterfall Arts (Dance Annex)
Belfast Poet Laureates past and present kick off the 19th Annual Belfast Poetry Festival with a reception, reading, a performance by poet and dancer JJ Rowan  a special presentation by Bloof Books, and an appearance by upcoming Millay House writer-in-residence Melissa McKinstry.

Friday, October 18, 2024

Lattes And Limericks
9:30 a.m: Belfast Free Library
Join An Informal Sharing Of Formal Poetry. Bring A Limerick To Read To The Group

Writing Marathon  With Todd Mckinley
10:00 a.m: Belfast Public Library  (Start At Kramer Gallery)
A Writing Marathon Leverages Two Elements Important To Poetry: Time And Place. We’ll Begin Our Session Together, And Then Split Off In Pairs And Threes To Visit Various Locations To Sit - Inside Or Outside - To Inspire Our Writing. Rotating Regularly, The Goal Is To Visit Multiple Locations. We End Our Session By Reading In The Round - Sharing Excerpts From Our Writing And Reflecting On How Various Places Influenced Our Writing.

Two Worlds, One Breath:
A Haiku Workshop With Geoffrey Philp
3:00 p.m: The Abbott Room
Belfast Free Library
Explore The Art Of Haiku In Belfast's Autumn Landscape. Through Discussions, Outdoor Experiences, And Writing Exercises, Participants Will Learn About Haiku's History, Aesthetics, And Principles. We Will Practice Mindful Observation Of The Changing Season And Use Haiku Techniques To Create Meaningful Poems Reflecting Our Experiences.

Haiku Death Match  With Host Mattie John Bamman  And Special Guest Appearance By  The Exceptions
7:00 p.m: Dreamland, The Colonial Theater
The 1st Annual Haiku Death Match Will Debut At This Year’s Festival The Haiku Death Match Is A Thrilling Competition That Sees Poets Battle Head-To-Head Until The Last Haikuist Is Left Standing. Poets Will Use Audience Prompts To Compose Poems Onsite, And The Winner, Chosen By Audience Applause, Will Receive The Coveted Title Of Bpf Hdm Champion. The Exceptions Will Also Present A Salty Set Of Fun, Jazz-Punk Improve Poetry.

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Scones And Sonnets
9:30 a.m: Belfast Free Library
Join An Informal Sharing Of Formal Poetry.
Bring A Sonnet To Read To The Group

Writing Our Own Narratives:
A Panel On Transgender Ecology,  Ancestry, And Legacy   With T Love Smith And Guests
10:00 a.m: The Abbott Room
Belfast Free Library
What Is The Legacy Of Transgender History? Where Can We Find Authentic Representation And How Can We Authentically Represent Ourselves? This Panel Opens A Space For Transgender And Non-Binary Poets To Share Their Own Perspectives And Offer Hope For Recovering And Amplifying Transgender Narratives.  

Crankie Matinee With Lucky Platt And Amy Tingle
11:00 a.m: Waterfall Arts Dance Annex
Crankies Are An Old Storytelling Art Form. You Start With  A Long Illustrated Scroll That Is Wound Onto Two Spools. The Spools Are Loaded Into A Box Which Has A Viewing Window. The Scroll Is Then Hand-Cranked While The Poem Is Read, Story Is Told, Or A Song Is Sung. Crankies Originated In The Early 1800s And They Are Uniquely Suited To Foster Creative Collaboration Between Visual Artists, Musicians, Poets, And Humans Of Varying Creative Identities. Folks Of All Ages Are Invited To Perform Their Handmade Crankies During This Event  

Literary Litanies With Doug Woodsum
11:30 a.m: The Abbott Room
Belfast Free Library
Poets Have Been Writing Litanies Forever. Some People Call Them Catalog Poems. Anaphora Is Repetition Of Words Or Phrases In A Group Of Poetic Lines. The Class Begins With A Brief Discussion Of Classic Litanies, Then Moves Into Brief Warm-Up Writing Exercises. Participants Will Craft A Draft (Or Two) Of Their Own Litanies To Share.

Maine Monster Tales With Christopher Packard
2:00 p.m: Waterfall Arts Dance Annex
A Family Friendly, Interactive, Immersive Character Storytelling Performance Featuring Maine Legends About Mysterious Creatures In The Maine Woods.  

Songs From Here With Sarah Tuttle, Pianist Bridget Convey,  And Guest Poets
3:00 p.m: Gammans Room, Belfast Free Library
Songs From Here Is A Maine-Based Initiative Dedicated To The Commission Of New Vocal Works By Composers Born Or Based In Maine. The Program Features Original Compositions With Poetry Readings Interspersed Between Groups Of Songs.  

Compress, Impulse, Express  With Jay Hanes And Eleanor Weisman
4:10 p.m: Gammans Room, Belfast Free Library
An Original Choreopoem Based On John Dewey's Aesthetic Process And Motivated By Climate Destruction And The Rise Of Fascism. The Duo Will Also Offer Intermedial Interpretations Of Works By Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Dancing The Orange  With Mark Burrows, Willie Sordillo And Liz Kalloch
4:30 p.m: Gammans Room, Belfast Free Library
This Improvisational Performance Begins With The Poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s Eccentric Call In One Of His Sonnets To Orpheus To “Dance The Orange” - And, As He Goes On To Suggest, To “Establish Kinship / With The Pure, Resisting Rind, / With The Juice That Fills The Happy Fruit.” We Will Weave Images From This And Other Sonnets In This Collection - To Give Voice, In A Dialogue With The Saxophone And Accompanied By Dance, To The Poet’s Ridiculously Delightful Invitation To Celebrate This “Happy Fruit.” Together, We Will Invite Those Gathered To Imagine How Such A Dance Might Look, Not Only In Our Minds But With Our Bodies. Perhaps We Might Even Answer, Together With Members Of The Audience, Rilke’s Invitation To Join The Dance.

Community Open Mic And Reception With Host Belfast Poet Laureate Maya Stein
7:00 p.m: Unitarian Universalist Church
Advance Sign-Ups Are Encouraged
Go Here To Add Your Name To The List.

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Coffee And Couplets
9:30 a.m: Belfast Boathouse

Join An Informal Sharing Of Formal Poetry. Bring A Poem To Read To The Group
Poems And Placemaking With John Reinhart
10:30 a.m: Belfast Boathouse
Maine Is Full Of Natural Wonder And Urban Streets Lined With History. This Workshop Will Address The Here And Now, The Earth Beneath Our Feet And The Trees Around Us. Participants Will Develop Poems About Specific Places, Working From Examples By Such Writers As Kei Miller, Muriel Rukeyser, Mathias Svalina, And, Closer To Home, Edna St Vincent Millay, Gary Lawless, And Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Zine Workshop With Alex Rheault
10:30 a.m: Belfast Boathouse
Discover How To Create And Use Handmade Booklet Formats Eight And 16-Fold Versions Which Require Folding And Tear/Cut Only To Collect And Personalize Images And Words In Any Subject Or Genre.

Poetry Picnic And Closing Celebration
12:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m: Belfast Boathouse
Bring The Whole Family, A Picnic, And Some Poems, And Enjoy A Joyful  Communal Sharing Of Creative Inspiration Special Prizes Awarded For Those Participating In The Scavenger Scrolls Activity Throughout The Weekend.  

Date: October 18 - 20, 2024

Location: Various Venues in Belfast, ME 04915

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