This year we organise for the fifth time the Poetry Downtown Festival and it’s our goal to make America write again. The last four years, we got entries from 26 states and we would love to get entries from all 50 states this year. Please share! The theme of Poetry Downtown 2025 is Turtle Island.…
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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…
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In 2025, we transitioned from a jury-based selection process to a single-curator model to foster a more cohesive artistic vision and streamline decision-making. This year’s curator is Erik van Loon, founder of the Poetry Downtown Festival. In addition, he’s the founder of House of Craziness (an indie publisher) and Poetry On Air. Having chaired the…
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Celebrating American Indian Poetry Theme Turtle Island What to Submit • Lyric, prose, formal (syllabic, metrical, etc.), hybrid or experimental poetry • Maximum 30 lines per poem • Works in English Prizes • Up to 52 poets will be selected for the official anthology Reading Schedule • only online this year Deadline All entries must…
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Dear American Indians, Poets, and Friends, It is with a heavy heart that I share some unfortunate news. After weeks of calls and emails, Ana Ruiz from Drive Music Publishing decided not to grant us the copyrights to use any photo’s, music, songs, videos and not even the poetry of ‘Warrior Poet’ to celebrate the…
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Finally, President Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier. Finally. This is what the Dutch Newspaper Leeuwarder courant wrote on 12-10-1987:
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,…
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Leave your email in the footer if you want to register for our newsletter This March 11 till 24, the Poetry Cab, will visit 164 independent bookstores, public libraries and universities in 40 big urban cities and small rural towns between Omaha and San Jose (see www.poetrycab.com/omaha-san-jose) to find poets and venues for our 5th Poetry…
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