PB Poetry Festival To Host Three Public Events In April

The Palm Beach Poetry Festival's Director Susan R. Williamson and Dr. Blaise Allen, Director of Community Outreach, today invited the public to three major events during National Poetry Month:

April 1 at 7 pm (Monday)

National Poetry Month Film Series at Lynn University

A Quiet Passion

In this 2017 film, Cynthia Nixon delivers a brilliant characterization of the great American poet Emily Dickinson, who would not be recognized until after her death. Director Terence Davies poignantly evokes the cultural contexts of the period with which Dickinson struggled before finding transcendence in poetry. The film will be presented by Bonnie Bonincontri, Assistant Professor at Lynn University and editor of Quest, the university's arts journal.

Lynn University

Count and Countess de Hoernle International Center

Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall

3601 N. Military Trail in Boca Raton

FREE

April 4 at 7 pm (Thursday)

Visiting Poet Brynn Saito

Following the Brush:

Japanese Poetic Poems, Then & Now

In collaboration with the Morikami Museum and Gardens

Award-winning California poet Brynn Saito will discuss the zuihitsu, a form of prose-poetry writing that emerged during Japan's 11th century. Closely translated as "following the brush," zuihitsu collects observations, notes, personal feelings, and quotes in a seemingly random and associative manner, leading to surprising, poignant poetic expressions. Saito will discuss how this form-and how Japanese culture, more generally-informs her work. She will close with a short poetry reading, book singing, and Q&A.

Morikami Theater

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

4000 Morikami Trail in Delray Beach

Morikami Entrance Fee: $10 ($7 for members)

Note: All tickets are will-call and will be held at the theatre door for pick-up starting at noon.

April 6 at 1 pm (Saturday)

On Ekphrastic Poetry

Workshop & Lecture about Ludmila Pawlowska

Facilitator: Poet Stephen Gibson

This event is being held in conjunction with Icons in Transformation, a traveling modern art exhibition featuring more than 100 contemporary works by Russian-Swedish abstract expressionist Ludmila Powlowska. The exhibit recalls the icons the artist had seen in Russian monasteries and is running at St. Paul's Episcopal Church through April 7. Facilitator Stephen Gibson's poetry workshop will be on Ekphrasis poetry, poems which focus on other works of art, like paintings, photography, or sculpture, as their subjects. Workshop participants will explore how Ekphrasis, rather than being solely description, can help to explore each individual poet's sense of the world.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

188 S. Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach

Fee: $10

The 16th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held next January at Old School Square in Delray Beach. The Festival will feature top poets at numerous ticketed public events, including readings, talks, interviews, panel discussions and more. Poetry workshops will be offered for which applications are required.

The Palm Beach Poetry Festival 2019 was presented in partnership with Old School Square and was generously sponsored by Art Works of the National Endowment for the Arts, Morgan Stanley, The Legacy Group of Morgan Stanley's Atlanta, GA office, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, The Tourist Development Council of Palm Beach County; the Board of Commissioners of Palm Beach County, The Palm Beach Post, a grant from Visit Florida, WLRN-FM, and Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach's independent bookseller.

In 2010, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival received an Arts Challenge Grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; and in 2011, it was presented with The Muse Award for Outstanding Cultural Organization (with a budget under $500,000) by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.

For more information about the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, please visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.