Newsletter August
Fifth Anniversary of Poetry Downtown Festival
As you know, I launched this festival like as a birthday gift to America—each year’s grand poetry celebration lands on the last weekend of September, coinciding with my birthday.
This year we’re turning five, and I’d love nothing more than to receive more birthday presents (your poems!) than ever before.
To make it extra special, I’ve waived all submission fees for the first time.
Join the celebration—submit your work and help us make this anniversary our most memorable yet!
Erik van Loon
Celebrating American Indian Poetry
This year, we had planned to honor John Trudell (February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015) on the tenth anniversary of his passing.
At the request of his two eldest children—both residents of Las Vegas, New Mexico— we will no longer mark his life and work. Read their statement here.
In light of this, we’ve refocused our festival to celebrate American Indian poetry under the theme “Turtle Island.”As we no longer have a certain birthplace and deathplace of our honored poet, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel all events in:
- Omaha, Nebraska (birthplace)
- Denver, Colorado (stopover)
- San Francisco (stopover)
- San Jose, California (deathplace)
- and aboard the Poetry Train
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.
Make America Write Again
This year we got entries from five new states but we still encouter problems to Make Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and many other white states willing to write again.
I know that you all shared this callwith friend to get more entries then ever but know that this time I will not change the deadline.
I AM NOT
AMERICAN INDIAN
Yesterday, a poet from Connecticut withdrew his submission, “River Stone,” because he is not of Indigenous descent. I was saddened by that choice, so I wrote:
| Dear …. Why should you need to be American Indian to write a poem about Turtle Island? This festival is a party open to everyone—Africans, Asians, Europeans—regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, or age. Each year, we celebrate a poet’s lifetime achievement: Kenneth Patchen in our first year, Charles Bukowski in our second, Sylvia Plath in 2023, and Edgar Allan Poe in 2024. In all those years, no one ever said, ‘Only women may write “I Never Could Talk to You,”’ or ‘Only Germans may pen “Some People Never Go Crazy,”’ or ‘Only males from Ohio should tackle “Get Ready to Die.” and ‘Serious you don’t even need to be death to write a “The Raven” poem.’ Rest assured: our goal is to inspire you to write and to learn—from different poets, styles, rhymes, and histories. This year we try to understand American Indian poetry by focussing our festival on them who lived before us and who were and still are able to express their worlds through pictographs (call it art), oral storytellings, and songs long before written language existed. Erik van Loon ——- Hope that you all can help me to spread the word because we got less entries then ever for our festival and I am sick of it. Please help! |
It’s for free
Each year, American poets ask why I —like festivals around the globe— charge an entrance fee. I always explain that poetry needs financial support. It’s just like organizing a soccer match or a concert: referees, dressing rooms, sound equipment—all of it costs money. Only a fortunate few earn a living from their talent, but the event itself still requires funding.
This year, however, I’ve decided to waive every fee to chase my dream:
Make America Write Again
Please help spread the word. Without entrance fees, we won’t have the budget to lavish funds on tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, or other social-media moguls as we have in years past.
