Register for a chance to win an NYCPOFEST tote bag filled with signed copies of books by this year's featured readers!

The 6th Annual New York City Poetry Festival will be held on Governors Island's Colonel's Row on July 30th and 31st, 2016. The Poetry Society of New York, producers of The Poetry Brothel, The Typewriter Project, and The Atlas Review, once again invite attendees to come together for this free two-day festival to celebrate New York City's vibrant poetry community. The event includes over 75 poetry organizations and 250 poets on its three main stages; a Vendor's Village where local booksellers, artists and craft makers sell their wares; healthy and delicious food options; a beer garden sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery, poetry-inspired installation art throughout; the Ring of Daisies open mic; and, of course, the Children's Festival at NYCPOFEST, sponsored by Writopia Lab!

The purpose of the New York City Poetry Festival has been to liberate poets and their work from the dark corners of bars, bookstore, and coffee shops and their halogen-lit college campuses, and to bring together as many NYC poets as possible, in the bright light of day, to meet, mingle, and collaborate. Fostering an open, approachable, diverse, innovative, sharp, and culturally prominent literary community lies at the core of The Poetry Society of New York's mission. While there are still a few entrenched poetry establishments, for many writers and artists, and even the general public, they can seem remote and inaccessible; The Poetry Society of New York aims not only to bridge these gaps, but to unify this city's poetry community in ways never before thought possible. By opening doors to diverse and unique artistic interactions, the New York City Poetry Festival electrifies arts and literature and brings poetry to new light in the public eye.

The New York City Poetry Festival has been honored to present such award-winning writers as Mark Strand, Paul Muldoon, Yusef Komunyakaa, Patricia Smith, Mark Doty, Nick Flynn, Matthea Harvey, Dorothea Lasky, Patricia Spears Jones, and Cornelius Eady, but more importantly the festival has given poets and poetry lovers from all five boroughs and beyond an opportunity to hear, appreciate, and interact with poets whom they might never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. The festival has also presented over 50 artists of other mediums. By reaching outside the established poetry communities, The Poetry Society of New York hopes to create new audiences for poetry and facilitate collaborations between poets and other artists. Similarly, by reaching out to colleges, high schools, grade schools, and children's poetry organizations, the festival hopes to encourage, educate, and inspire fledgling writers of all ages to become a part of New York's diverse and dynamic poetry scene.

Check back here or on our website (www.newyorkcitypoetryfestival.com) in April for full details about the 2016 lineup, vendors, sponsors, and other participants.