Individual and Group Readings, Poetry Slam, and Workshops, and Panels
DEADLINE: May 25, 2016
The fourth annual Amherst Poetry Festival takes place September 15-17, 2016 at the Emily Dickinson Museum and locations throughout downtown Amherst.
Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, Amherst Business Improvement District, Jones Library, and The Common, the festival is a celebration of the poetic legacy of Emily Dickinson, the exceptional poetry community of western Massachusetts, and poets from around the world who will gather to share their work in the place where Dickinson created her immortal poetry.
2016 Amherst Poetry Festival Theme: Place
We trust—in places perfecter— Inheriting Delight
Beyond our faint Conjecture— Our dizzy Estimate—
Emily Dickinson, Fr369
Whether familiar or foreign, inhabited or desolate, fleeting or constant - the sense of place overtakes us. The feeling of belonging is as divisive as it is unifying, and the setting of home defines one individual as quickly as it displaces another.
Meanwhile, the work of creating and safeguarding sacred spaces is the work of the poet as much as the preservationist or the environmentalist. In this work we find commonality; there, place becomes a shared human experience.
WE ARE SEEKING PROPOSALS FOR:
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
● Poetry workshops for students at Amherst High School, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and UMass Amherst from 1 to 5 pm. Sessions can run from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
● Poetry workshops open to the public at the Emily Dickinson Museum. Session should run 1 hour.
Our Friday workshop leaders will have the opportunity to present their own work at a reading from 7-9 pm.
● Late night Poetry Slam participants will compete for a crowd in downtown Amherst before a panel of judges.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
● Featured poetry reading on the James Tate Memorial Stage. Individual or group readings are sought for 15 and 30 minute time slots.
● Poetry workshops, panels or programs open to the public.
ALL WEEKEND
● Visual artists with outdoor, site-specific work to be installed on the Museum grounds during the Festival weekend.
Submission Guidelines:
Only submissions made in the online form provided will be considered. There is no fee to submit proposals. You may submit up to two proposals. Because of scheduling constraints, poets and presenters may participate in no more than two accepted events.
Submissions will be judged on the following:
● Relationship to the 2016 Festival Theme
● Originality
● Quality
● Audience
For guidelines and to submit, visit http://emilydickinsonmuseum.org/amherstpoetryfestival2016