5th Poetry Downtown Festival celebrates John Trudell
Press Release
In 2021, Dutch artist Erik van Loon gifted America a poetry festival to celebrate his 50th birthday. It began as a two-hour poetry reading dedicated to the life and work of Kenneth Patchen on a beach in Los Angeles. Four years later, Erik slowly transformed his annual birthday celebration into a literary pilgrimage, beginning in the birthplace and concluding in the deathplace of the poet he honors. This year, he pays tribute to John Trudell with the theme ‘Look At Us.’
John Trudell From September 23 to 28, Erik van Loon will celebrate the life and work of John Trudell with 33 poetry events in Omaha, Denver, San Francisco, San Jose, and on the Poetry Train. John Trudell (1946–2015) was a poet, recording artist, speaker, actor, and activist whose work remains a powerful voice for Indigenous rights and social justice. Born on February 15, 1946, in Omaha, Nebraska, Trudell was a member of the Santee Sioux Nation.
Theme: Look At Us
Submission deadline: September 1
The theme for the 5th Poetry Downtown Festival is ‘Look At Us,’ inviting people from around the world to submit their poems. We selected John Trudell’s powerful piece ‘Look At Us‘ as the theme because it explores identity, resilience, and the human experience. Trudell’s words encourage reflection on who we are, where we come from, and the collective strength we possess. His poem speaks to the spirit of community, the importance of acknowledging our shared history and struggles, and it inspires us to come together to celebrate our identities and stories, aligning perfectly with the festival’s mission to celebrate and promote poetry.
Anthology Each year, the best poems are featured in a new anthology. In 2021, we published poems inspired by Kenneth Patchen’s ‘Get Ready To Die,’ in 2022 by Charles Bukowski’s ‘Some People Never Go Crazy,’ in 2023 by Sylvia Plath’s ‘I Never Could Talk To You,’ and in 2024 by Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Raven.’
Poetry Train Since 2022, Erik has connected the birthplace and deathplace of the honored poet with the Poetry Train. This Amtrak train features a dedicated car for poets. Starting on September 23 in Omaha, the train stops in 40 big urban cities and small rural towns in Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California to pick up poets for events in Denver on September 24, San Francisco on September 26 and 27, and San Jose on September 28. The train provides poets with an affordable, fun, and unforgettable opportunity to meet, learn from, and collaborate with other poets while traveling from Omaha to San Jose.
American Poetry Dream This year, the Poetry Train features only one car, but Erik dreams of leasing a dedicated Poetry Train by 2027, complete with restaurant, sleeper, disco, bar, and library cars. This year, he hopes to welcome 40 poets—one poet per stop—to join the Poetry Train, continuing to grow this unique festival.
Fight Illiteracy Bringing amateur and professional poets into contact with a diverse audience helps communities promote literacy. Erik chose poetry over prose because a Haiku, for example, can already improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Poetry enhances vocabulary, sentence formation, syntax, fluency, and creativity.
Poetry Cab – Poverty and Profit in Today’s American Cities and Towns From March 11 to 24, Erik van Loon will promote his fifth Poetry Downtown Festival with the Poetry Cab. During this period, he will visit independent bookstores, public libraries, creative writing universities, and train stations along the Poetry Train route to promote the festival. Poets who submit poems about ‘Poverty and Profit in Today’s American Cities and Towns‘ can win a free ride on the Poetry Cab and publication in the Poetry Cab Anthology. Selected poets will be invited to read their poem in the back seat of the Poetry Cab, which Erik has transformed into a tiny Hollywood-style film studio.
Festival Guide For more information about this year’s Poetry Downtown Festival, visit the concept festival guide at www.poetrydowntown.com/program.
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More info:
5th Poetry Downtown Festival
Erik Van Loon
www.poetrydowntown.com
poetrydowntownfestival@gmail.com
EU +31 6 E VAN LOON (+31 6 3 826 5666)
Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Tiktok: @poetrydowntown
