Poetry festival to debut in Woodstock

Sundog Poetry, a prominent association of poets in Vermont, and the North Chapel of Woodstock recently announced the launch of the first Woodstock Poetry Festival. The Festival will take place in Woodstock, Vermont, on June 21–22.

The Woodstock Poetry Festival has assumed the annual poetry gathering which had taken place under Bookstock since 2009.

The festival will be held in a beautiful 1835 church which, with other rooms in the Town, has hosted over 75 poets who participated in Bookstock between 2009 and 2023. These poets included winners of the most major awards for poetry, including the Nobel Prize.

All poetry readings are free and open to all. It will be the largest concentration of poetry readings and poetry-related events in Vermont in 2024.

Chard deNiord, poet laureate of Vermont (2015-2019), is program director of the festival. He said, “The fact that there are more poets per capita in Vermont than any other state, as well as a poetic tradition that began with Robert Frost almost a hundred years ago and then quickly became the home of such internationally renowned poets as Galway Kinnell, Louise Gluck, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Hayden Carruth, Ruth Stone, and Grace Paley, it is only appropriate and natural for Vermont to host a poetry festival that celebrates its august poetic tradition with a group reading of some of America’s most eminent poets.”

Participating poets include:

Robert Pinsky (three-time Poet Laureate of the United States)

Ellen Bryant Voigt (MacArthur Fellow)

Martin Espada (National Book Award winner)

Andrea Cohen (Guggenheim Fellow)

Alexandria Hall (National Poetry Series winner)

Jeffrey Harrison (Guggenheim Fellow)

Cate Marvin (Guggenheim Fellow)

Todd Hearon (PEN/New England “Discovery” Award)

Matt Miller (Vassar Miller Poetry Prize)

Maggie Dietz (Grolier Poetry Prize)

Sara London (Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize)

Elizabeth Powell (Anhinga-Robert Dana Prize for Poetry).  

In addition to the poetry readings by the poets listed above, poetry writing workshops, a musical/poetry performance and a reception for the poets and attendees will also occur. The poets’ books will be available for sale at the North Chapel. Details will be posted on the Festival website.

— Press Release Provided