NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The New Orleans Poetry Festival organizers announced the lineup of local, national and international poets and performers for the 10th annual event, which will take place in the New Orleans Healing Center and nearby establishments from Thursday, April 10, to Sunday, April 13.
“Simply put, NOPF is committed to wide-ranging aesthetic, political, regional, and cultural considerations,” said NOPF Board Member and poet Rodrigo Toscano. “In other words, it makes for a truly joyful event for everyone.”
All events are free and open to the public. Now in its tenth year, the poetry festival has grown to be one of the largest poetry gatherings in the Gulf South, proudly connecting over 700 poets from across the world to participate in over 80 major readings, roundtable discussions and poetry workshops. The festival celebrates poetic innovation, experimentation, dynamic performance, and the art of translation.
“We’ve always been an outlier in terms of the usual literary conference—and this year more than ever,” said Henry Goldkamp, communications director for NOPF. “For 10 years now, we’ve embraced poets that are weird and off-kilter, made space for poems that take risks in one way or another. Our city offers a revolutionary hotbed for those poets allergic to the usual academic and stagnant sensibility of what people often think of when they hear the word poetry. Here in New Orleans, poetry does. Here, poetry is an action made to be moved into the world at large.”
Events and activities include:
• Thursday, April 10, 7 p.m.: Locals Night Opening Gala, a reading by a wide range of seven local poets, from established names in the scene as well as rising stars at the Saturn Bar, 3067 St Claude Ave.
• Friday, April 11, 1-5 p.m.: Open Mic Session at St. Roch Tavern, 1200 St Roch Ave.
• Friday, April 11, 7 p.m.: International Night: French Poetry & Translation, features three French poets accompanied by a French jazz musician at Café Istanbul, 2372 St Claude Ave., Room 252.
• Saturday, April 12, 7 p.m.: Main Event, leading experimental political poets Ariana Reines and Tongo Eisen-Martin headline a performance Saturday evening at Café Istanbul.
• Saturday & Sunday, April 12-13, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Readings, Roundtables, Workshops & Small Press Fair an eclectic mix of over 70 readings, rountables, and free poetry workshops at the New Orleans Healing Center, featuring nearly 400 poets as participants and a small press book fair representing over 50 small presses, arts organizations, and bookmakers at the New Orleans Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Ave.
Visit nolapoetry.com for more information.
