In 2022, Florida Beat Poet Laureate Chris Bodor launched St. Augustine PoetFest, St Johns County’s official observation of National Poetry Month (April).
The festival kicks off with a Beat Poet Summit on Thursday night featuring ten minutes of podium time awarded to all past and present Beat Poet Laureates who get “On the Road ” like Kerouac, and travel to the Sunshine State. A community open mic will follow. The sign-up sheet is available at 6 p.m. and open to the first 10 people. Please limit your time at the podium to five ... view more »
In 2022, Florida Beat Poet Laureate Chris Bodor launched St. Augustine PoetFest, St Johns County’s official observation of National Poetry Month (April).
The festival kicks off with a Beat Poet Summit on Thursday night featuring ten minutes of podium time awarded to all past and present Beat Poet Laureates who get “On the Road ” like Kerouac, and travel to the Sunshine State. A community open mic will follow. The sign-up sheet is available at 6 p.m. and open to the first 10 people. Please limit your time at the podium to five minutes.
The celebration of Creative writing and reciting continues during the day on Friday and Saturday with author discussions, seminars, and a keynote presentation by New York poet George Wallace at the historic downtown campus of Flagler College. On Friday evening, the English Department hosts an off-campus open mic and the weekend concludes on Saturday afternoon with an awards ceremony for the winners of the St. Johns Cultural Council Haiku Contest, followed by a reception.
~ ~ ~
POETFEST 2024 INFO
April 11-13, 2024
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Beat Poet Summit followed by community open mic hour
Free open to the public event at the Waterworks.
Door open 6:00 pm | Showtime 7:00 pm
more info about the National Beat Poetry Foundation
https://nationalbeatpoetryfoundation.org/
~ ~ ~
Friday, April 12, 2024
10 am to 5 pm
Flagler College campus (free)
Featuring Book Bazaar, author spotlights, and publishing panels.
4:00 pm Keynote Presentation by George Wallace (New York).
6:30 PM PM to 8:30 PM
Open Mic Event
Hosted by the English Department of Flagler College at Relampago Coffee Lab, located at 74 Spanish Street. The signup sheet is out at 6:00 PM. (free)
~ ~ ~
Saturday, April 13, 2024
11 am to 2 pm
Flagler College campus
Student, Faculty, and alumni showcase, St. John County Book Mobile, DCAZ Zine Zone, Book Bazaar, with storytelling seminar, dramatic play reading, author talks and panels, featured poets.
1:00 PM Poetry Meets the Muse with Claire Conroy (Maine)
2:00 PM The Antinomian Outsider aspect of The Beat Generation presented by Ron Whitehead (Tennessee)
3:30 PM
St. John County Haiku contest awards presentation, concluding with a celebratory reception, at 5 pm.
To learn more go to St. Augustine PoetFest
View less
