Patti Smith: Songs and Stories at New Jersey Performing Arts Center

Patti Smith: Songs and Stories is a featured performance within the Dodge Poetry Festival, North America's largest poetry festival, produced by NJPAC and returning to Newark October 15–17, 2026. Known as the "punk poet laureate," Patti Smith performs alongside an array of poets including U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze, Pulitzer Prize winner Tyehimba Jess, and best-selling poet and novelist Elizabeth Acevedo. The festival, headquartered at NJPAC since 2010, emphasizes poetry as a performing art and a tool for social justice advocacy, pairing poets with musicians and other performing artists across three days of events.