Jury

The 5h Annual Poetry Downtown Festival honors John Trudell from September 23 - 28, 2025!

Theme | Submit | Jury | Rules | Rating | Accreditation

Erik Van Loon
Founder Poetry Downtown Festival

Photo: Erik Van Loon / House Of Craziness, Rotterdam

BIO Erik van Loon is a Dutch artist living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and founder of Poetry Downtown Festival. He runs also House Of Craziness and Poetry On Air!

Chris Semtner
Curator of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum

Photo: Chris Semtner / Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond

BIO Chris Semtner is poe scholar and curator of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Besides that he is author of 11 books about Edgar Allan Poe and a very talented artist with exhibitions all over the world.

G. H. Mosson
Writer and Poet

Photo: G.H. Mosson / ….

BIO Author of “Family Snapshot as a Poem in Time” (Finishing Line Press 2019) and “Questions of Fire” (Plain View Press 2009), and a poet with prestigious journal publications including in The Tampa Review, Loch Raven Review, California Quarterly, Smartish Pace, Lines & Stars, and has been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize.

Former jury members

Greg Bell, Poet in Los Angeles
Greg was jury member from 2022 till 2023. He lived in Venice and is a 2019 recipient of The Kowit Poetry Prize and poet himself. He teach poetry in daily life and is an active member of Beyond Baroque. 

P Segal, Director at San Francisco Art House
P was jury member from 2021 till 2023. As former Santa Monica resident she knew all the big poets from the past personally. After she moved to San Francisco she became on of the founders of Burning Man and now she is founder of San Francisco Art House