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Highlights of the Upcoming Four-Day Festival
at NJPAC and Newark’s Downtown Arts District
150+ events during Oct. 18-21 Festival include Poetry Samplers with multiple poets in
back-to-back readings, Main Stage Readings and Krista Tippett recording poet
interviews for her Peabody Award-winning public radio show “On Being”
Tickets are now on sale
The Festival’s more than 150 poetry events over four days include these highlights:
Thursday, October 18:
- Afternoon Poetry Sampler with back-to-back short readings by Jan Beatty, Jericho Brown, Tina Chang, Sandra Cisneros, Henri Cole, Kwame Dawes, Juan Felipe Herrera, David Hinton, Eileen Myles, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Sharon Olds, Gregory Orr, Gregory Pardlo, Mary Ruefle, Sapphire, Rachel Wiley, David Young and more.
- Evening Academy of American Poets Chancellors’ Reading, part of the organization’s annual Poets Forum, with Elizabeth Alexander (President Obama’s first inaugural poet), Ellen Bass, Marilyn Chin, Kwame Dawes, Forrest Gander, Linda Gregerson, Brenda Hillman, Marie Howe, Khaled Mattawa, Marilyn Nelson, Alicia Ostriker, Alberto Ríos and David St. John.
Friday, October 19:
- Krista Tippett records an afternoon interview with poet Jericho Brown for later broadcast on “On Being,” her popular, Peabody Award-winning public radio program and podcast.
- Evening Main Stage Readings by Jan Beatty, Henri Cole, Kwame Dawes, Gregory Pardlo and Sapphire.
Saturday, October 20:
- “The Beloved: A Poem and Song Cycle” in the afternoon featuring Gregory Orr and musicians/vocalists Parkington Sisters. The world premiere of a collaborative piece conceived and composed for the 2018 Festival.
- Krista Tippett interviews Gregory Orr for “On Being” as well as afternoon Main Stage Readings by Sandra Cisneros, Mary Ruefle and David Young.
- “In Praise: A Hundred Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Earth,” a music and poetry performance invitation to share gratitude across race, gender, belief system, age, and sexual preference, with Jan Beatty, Jericho Brown, Sandra Cisneros, Henri Cole, Kwame Dawes, Ross Gay, Rigoberto González, Juan Felipe Herrera, David Hinton, Joy Ladin, Joseph O. Legaspi, Eileen Myles, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Sharon Olds, Rachel Wiley and the Newark Boys Chorus.
Sunday, October 21:
- An afternoon Special Event: In Conversation with Ntozake Shange.
- Krista Tippett interviewing Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds for “On Being.”
- Main Stage Readings by Juan Felipe Herrera, Eileen Myles, Sharon Olds and Ntozake Shange.
The 2018 Dodge Poetry Festival marks the second time the renowned Academy of American Poets will integrate its annual Poets Forum into the Festival, bringing together their Board of Chancellors for readings and conversations. Participating Chancellors include Elizabeth Alexander, President Obama’s first inaugural poet; McArthur Fellowship “genius grant” recipient Khaled Mattawa; as well as acclaimed poets Ellen Bass, Marilyn Chin, Kwame Dawes, Forrest Gander, Linda Gregerson, Brenda Hillman, Marie Howe, Marilyn Nelson, Alicia Ostriker, Alberto Ríos and David St. John.
The 2018 recipients of the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship, a program for U.S. citizens or residents ages 21-31, will also perform their first readings as Fellows. The Fellowships, established in 1989 to encourage the further study and writing of poetry, are sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine.
Once again, as a key component of the Dodge Foundation’s commitment to healthy communities, the Festival will partner with Clean Water Action to make the event a zero-waste event and NJ TRANSIT to make public transportation more affordable for Festival-goers.
Tickets and NJ TRANSIT Train Vouchers
Poetry Passes offering Single Day, Weekend or Four Day full Festival admission are available now. Prices for a Weekend Poetry Pass (Saturday and Sunday admission) are $70, with discounted admission available at $63 for seniors and teachers with ID, and $35 for students and Newark residents. Four Day Poetry Passes providing entry to all events at the Festival, Thursday through Sunday, are $110, with discounted admission for seniors and teachers at $99 and students and Newark residents at $55. Single Day Poetry Passes are $50, with discounted admission for seniors and teachers at $45 and students and Newark residents at $25. Tickets are available at the NJPAC Box Office, 1 Center Street, Newark NJ, online at www.njpac.org or by phone at 1-888-GO-NJPAC.
NJ TRANSIT is offering $10.50 per day ticket vouchers for Festival participants for a round-trip ticket from any NJ TRANSIT rail station to Newark Penn Station or Newark Broad Street Station. The voucher will also be honored on the Newark Light Rail once riders arrive in Newark. Vouchers can be purchased with Festival tickets online, over the phone, or at the NJPAC Box Office.