PB POETRY FESTIVAL to Host Community Outreach Events

Susan R. Williamson, Director of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, and Dr. Blaise Allen, Director of Community Outreach, today invited local poets and poetry fans to 11 upcoming public events:

February 11 - 10:30 am (Thursday)

Alzheimer's Poetry Project

Sunrise Assisted Living, Brighton Gardens

6341 Via De Sonrisa Del Sur in Boca Raton

FREE

Spread the love of poetry at this Valentine's Day reading as the Palm Beach Poetry Festival's poetry troupe reads poems of love and sings romantic songs of yesteryear. Participants should bring five single-page poems, original or not.

February 16 - 6:30 pm (Tuesday)

2nd Annual Stargazing:

Out of this World Poetry Reading

With Dr. Steven M. Schiff, retired educator and life-long amateur astronomer

Hagen Ranch Road Library

14350 Hagen Ranch Road in Delray Beach

FREE

In collaboration with the Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches, the Poetry Festival will host an "over the moon" poetry reading. Participants should bring three single-page poems, original or not, on the subject of the sky, stars, planets or the moon. While poems are being read aloud, attendees can view the night sky through telescopes provided by the Astronomical Society. This event will be held outdoors at sunset. Please bring a folding chair.

February 18 - 12:30 pm (Thursday)

Annual Afterglow Instant Anthology Party

Chili's Restaurant and Bar

20178 St. Andrews Blvd. in Boca Raton

FREE

Participants are asked to bring 25 copies of one single-page poem (original or not) on the theme of love, anti-love, or erotica. The poems will be collated with a cover designed by Dr. Blaise Allen, followed by a reading of the collected poems.

March 13 - 1:00 pm (Sunday)

Poetry Workshop

With Visiting Poet Kimberly Burwick, author of The Image Elemental: Taking Stock of Gary Snyder's Turtle Island

Old School Square, classroom 6

51 N. Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach

$10 per person

Ms. Burwick is the author of four collections of poetry and teaches creative writing at Washington State University and at UCLA Extension.

April 13 - 12:30 pm (Wednesday)

Bards of a Feather

Round Robin Poetry Reading

Green Cay Nature Preserve, Community Room

12800 Hagen Ranch Rod in Boynton Beach

FREE

Celebrate National Poetry Month. Participants should bring up to four poems, original or not, to share with the group.

April 14 at 7 pm (Thursday)

National Poetry Month Film Series at Lynn University

The Beat Generation: An American Dream

Count and Countess de Hoernle International Center / Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall

FREE

Using original film clips and interviews, this film illustrates the 1950s social movement termed the Beat Generation. Disillusioned with post-World War II America, Beat Generation writers and painters came together because they felt mainstream America was becoming out of touch with humanity and the individual. In their interviews, characters such as 'Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, and Gregory Corso express their disdain for a society that defines success and happiness in terms of superior technology, cars, and clothing.

April 16 - 12:30 pm (Saturday)

National Poetry Month Collaborative MFA

Student/Faculty Poetry Reading & Performance

With Florida Atlantic University & Florida International University

Old School Square, classroom 6

51 N. Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach

FREE

In support of local universities that offer MFA degrees in poetry and creative writing, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival is hosting this special reading of student poets and their esteemed faculty members.

April 28 at 7 pm (Thursday)

National Poetry Month Film Series at Lynn University

Howl

With Professor Bonnie Bonincontri

Count and Countess de Hoernle International Center / Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall

FREE

James Franco gives a career-defining performance as the young Allen Ginsberg-poet, counter-culture adventurer, and chronicler of the Beat Generation-in Howl, the audacious film from Academy Award-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Franco as Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless, electrifying, and controversial work of his career: Howl. Pushing the limits and challenging the mainstream, the passionate and provocative Howl and its publisher found themselves on trial for obscenity, with prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (David Strathairn) setting out to have the book banned, while defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Jon Hamm) fervently argues for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the passionate as a host of unusual witnesses (Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, Alessandro Nivola) pit generation against generation and art against fear in front of Judge Clayton Horn (Bob Balaban).

May 7 - 1:00 pm (Saturday)

Poetry Workshop

Imagining the Poem

With Lenny DellaRocca, who has had more than 200 poems published in more than 150 different literary journals.

Old School Square, classroom 6

51 N. Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach

$10 per person

June 1 - 10:30 am (Wednesday)

Alzheimer's Poetry Project

Sunrise Assisted Living, Brighton Gardens

6341 Via De Sonrisa Del Sur in Boca Raton

FREE

Spread the joy of poetry at this annual summertime reading as the Palm Beach Poetry Festival's poetry troupe reads poems of summertime and sings romantic songs of yesteryear. Participants should bring five single-page poems, original or not.

June 8 - 12:30 pm (Wednesday)

Bards of a Feather

Round Robin Poetry Reading

Green Cay Nature Preserve, Community Room

12800 Hagen Ranch Rod in Boynton Beach

FREE

Celebrate National Poetry Month. Participants should bring up to four poems, original or not, to share with the group.

About the Palm Beach Poetry Festival:

The 13th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held next January at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts. The Festival will feature top poets at numerous ticketed public events, including readings, talks, interviews, panel discussions and more. The Palm Beach Poetry Festival is generously sponsored by The National Endowment for the Arts, Morgan Stanley, the Windler Group of Morgan Stanley's Atlanta Office; the Cultural Council of Palm County, the Palm Beach County Tourism Development Council and the Board of Commissioners of Palm Beach County; The Palm Beach Post; Visit Florida; WLRN; and Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach's independent bookseller.

For more information about the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, please visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.

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