The Sarah Lawrence College Poetry Festival is the largest free poetry festival in New York State. Organized entirely by students, the Festival has become a vital annual event for the entire New York literary community. The weekend-long Festival features both daytime and evening readings by the finest poets writing today, as well as some of the East Coast's most innovative student work. In 2007, poet Paul Muldoon and his band, Rackett, appeared in concert.

A short train ride from Manhattan, the Festival takes place among the quiet hills and historic brownstone buildings of the Sarah Lawrence campus, offering a unique opportunity to enjoy contemporary poetry in a relaxed and beautiful environment. Besides daytime and evening poetry readings, the Festival offers craft talks, a bookstore, signings, receptions, and an open mic reading.

In 2008, Sarah Lawrence partnered with Roosevelt High School in Yonkers in order to feature a few outstanding high school poets.  Also, for the first time in the Festival's history, the weekend closed with a reading and reception for the launch of the 2008 edition of LUMINA, Sarah Lawrence's literary journal.

Contact Rebekah Sankey with questions.

This year's list of tentative readers includes poets such as Rita Dove, CK Williams, Jorie Graham, Tom Sleigh, and Linda Gregg.

2008 Festival Readers

• SLC alum Patrick Rosal was our featured poet at open mic!
• Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
• Laure-Anne Bosselaar
• Kurt Brown
• Lynn Emanuel
• Sage Francis
• Suzanne Gardinier
• Bob Hicok
• Ilya Kaminsky
• Alex Lemon
• Ron Padgett 
• Carl Phillips
• Victoria Redel
• Matthew Rohrer
• Sonia Sanchez
• Brenda Shaughnessy
• Tracy K. Smith

Interested in participating in the poetry festival?  See An Invitation to Student Readers for information.