Dodge Poetry Festival Returns to Newark with Patti Smith

The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) will present the Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark from October 15–17, 2026, featuring programming across seven stages throughout downtown Newark. The biennial festival, staged at NJPAC since 2010, celebrates poetry as a performing art, a community resource, and a catalyst for social justice. This year's festival features poet and punk rock icon Patti Smith, 2025–2026 U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze, best-selling novelist and poet Elizabeth Acevedo, Pulitzer Prize winner Tyehimba Jess, Def Poetry Jam alumni and dozens of acclaimed and emerging poets.

Highlights include Patti Smith: Songs and Stories; a Def Poetry Reunion; readings connected to Cave Canem, Kundiman, CantoMundo, Lampblack and the New Jeru Slam Team; Fine-Tune Your Craft, a writers' day presented in partnership with the Academy of American Poets; Newark's EvoluCulture Open Mic & Mixer; Young Artist Day for high school students and teachers; a Source of Knowledge pop-up bookstore and book signings; and a free Family Fun Day on Chambers Plaza.

Newly added programming includes EvoluCulture's Open Mic & Mixer on Thursday, October 15, hosted by Sean Battle with DJ The IZM, headlining poet Kendee Love and spotlight poet Talena Lachelle Queen. The free event begins at 7 p.m.; early arrival is encouraged for open mic sign-ups.

On Saturday, October 17, Do the Write Thing will spotlight Brooklyn's Black bohemian arts movement with Nelson George, Carl Hancock Rux, Jessica Care Moore, Tracie Morris, DJ Spinna, Vernon Reid and more in a multimedia conversation inspired by George's forthcoming book, Brooklyn Bohemians.

Young Artist Day returns Friday, October 16, offering free daytime festival programming for high school groups. Teachers and administrators may register online for student access to readings, performances and events tailored to teen audiences.

'Since 1986, the Dodge Poetry Festival has brought audiences together to experience the power of poetry,' said David Rodriguez, Executive Producer of Dodge Poetry Festival. 'From celebrated poets laureate and Pulitzer Prize winners to the discoveries awaiting audiences at Family Fun Day and Young Artist Day, the festival offers something for everyone—whether poetry is a lifelong passion or a new discovery.'

'The Dodge Poetry Festival welcomes people of all ages to discover new voices and experience the power of poetry,' said Ysabel Y. Gonzalez, Producer, Poetry and Social Impact. 'For students in particular, it's an opportunity to see how poetry comes alive across the arts—from spoken word and hip-hop to songwriting—and how their own words can connect, inspire and create change.'

Over the course of more than 40 years, the biennial Dodge Poetry Festival has welcomed more than 150,000 people to spend three days reading, writing and listening to poetry, in the company of poets and spoken word artists from across the nation. The 2026 festival will feature many special events, including:

Special Events

'Patti Smith: Songs and Stories,' a performance by the revered 'punk poet laureate'

Def Poetry Reunion, featuring a lineup of accomplished poets who were part of the original Def Poetry Jam, Russell Simmons' groundbreaking spoken word HBO series

Special readings by poets affiliated with Cave Canem (a literary organization dedicated to the growth of poets in the African diaspora), Kundiman (an organization that cultivates Asian American creative writing), and CantoMundo (a national organization devoted to fostering a community of Latinx poets)

Festival attendees can also participate in:

Young Artist Day, when thousands of high school students from across the country will attend the festival for readings, performances and more events geared to teen audiences

Fine-Tune Your Craft, a day for writers that includes workshops and events designed to offer poets and authors resources for honing their craft and skills in poetry, created in partnership with the Academy of American Poets

A celebration and open mic poetry reading hosted by Newark's EvoluCulture poetry collective, where festival-goers can network, socialize, listen in or sign up to read verses of their own

FREE Family Fun Day, when NJPAC's Chambers Plaza will become a poetry-infused play space, featuring poets reading on the Community Catalyst Stage, drumming and dancing workshops, and more

Three-day and one-day passes are on sale now. Festival passes do not include special ticketed events, which must be purchased separately. To purchase passes and tickets to special events visit www.njpac.org. For updates and more, visit njpac.org/series/dodgepoetry.

About the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Established in 1974, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation envisions a just and equitable New Jersey where people of all races and communities have equitable access to opportunities to thrive. Over its 50-year history, the Dodge Foundation has distributed more than $500 million in grants and technical support to New Jersey nonprofits. Today, building on decades of learning, the organization focuses its support on those who are directly addressing the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity to transform lives in New Jersey.

About NJPAC