Chair becomes Curator

I recently shifted our festival away from a jury-based selection to a single-curator model to ensure a cohesive creative vision and streamline editorial workflow.

As founder of the Poetry Downtown Festival, House of Craziness (an indie publisher) and Poetry On Air I’ll be the sole curator this year, though I may enlist an editor to assist as needed.

Having chaired juries for over ten years in the Netherlands and the past four years in the US, I bring a wealth of experience and an enduring passion for poetry—qualities that will shape a bold and thoughtfully curated collection.

Celebrating
American Indian Poetry

Each year, Poetry Downtown honors a distinguished poet’s lifetime achievements—see 2021-2031 honorees—by hosting lectures, talks, workshops, and readings in their birth city, death city and the Poetry Train in between.

This year, we planned to commemorate the late John Trudell (February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015) on the 10th anniversary of his passing. After weeks of calls and emails, Drive Music Publishing was unfortunately unable to grant permission for a dedicated tribute—read their decision here.

In lieu of a single honoree, we will celebrate American Indian poetry in general with a Turtle Island anthology of the 52 most outstanding entries.

*All 2025 events in the birth city, death city, and aboard the Poetry Train have been canceled. 

Turtle Island

“Turtle Island” is a name used by some Indigenous peoples, primarily in North America, to refer to the continent of North America. It is derived from creation stories and myths common to various Indigenous nations, particularly those in the Northeastern Woodlands, which describe a landmass built on the back of a turtle. The term is also used by some Indigenous rights activists and as a symbol of Indigenous identity and connection to the land.

Submit & Share

Theme: Turtle Island
Deadline: September 1.
Submission Fee: Free
Eligibility:
• Open to all
• Max. 32 lines
• One entry per person maximum
• Previously unpublished
• Works in English
Prizes: Up to 52 poets will be selected for this years anthology!