Dear Friends,

Every year on the last weekend of July, The Poetry Society of New York (PSNY) invites poetry organizations and collectives of all shapes and sizes to bring their unique formats, aesthetics, and personalities to beautiful Governors Island for The New York City Poetry Festival, a FREE weekend of readings, workshops, open mics, installations, performances, writing activities, bookselling, children's programming, a beer garden, delicious food, and a whole lot of lying around in the grass listening to poetry. 

It is our mission at PSNY to create community around art: to build and fortify a culture of intimacy and integrity, of celebration and ceremony, to whisper poetry into new ears, to awaken hearts, to build stages and watch as new friends and allies discover the voices they were given to share.  While there are still a few entrenched poetry establishments, for many writers, artists, and even the general public, they can feel remote, inaccessible, or even isolating.  With the New York City Poetry Festival, PSNY aims not only to bridge the gaps between groups but to unify this city's poetry community in ways that were never before thought possible.

Now, throughout National Poetry Month, we are asking for your support to make the festival possible this July and to bring the essential work of poetry to new light in the public eye.

With your support we will hold the 10th New York City Poetry Festival on July 24th & 25th, 2021, and we will have had two years of yearning for it. With NYC still in the midst of the largest vaccine rollout in over a century this Spring, we have chosen to move this year's fundraising efforts for the festival online. That is why we need your contributions this year more than ever, and we promise every dollar will be spent on the essentials: equipment, sustainable production supplies and materials, transportation, insurance, security, sanitation, and the like.

For a donation as small as $5, you will receive free admission to our Virtual Spring Gala, to be held on Friday, April 23rd at 8pm Eastern! And of course, we have an incredible variety of Perks to be claimed for larger donations. If you cannot afford to give this year or can only give a little, you can also show your support by becoming an ambassador of this campaign, set your very own sub-campaign goal, and fundraise within your community. For organizations who reach sub-campaign goals of $250 or more, festival sponsorship perks also become available!

There is a moment at each New York City Poetry Festival when the excited hum of the gathering drifts into the background and the voices of the poets reading on each stage begin to rise and fall in what feels like an intentional braiding of language, message, and purpose—when the voices of many poets from the far corners of this city begin to come together to make one poem, entirely new and perfect in the moment. Please help us return to this place together. Please help us create this great gathering of voices.

We are so grateful for your commitment to supporting the cultural life of this city, and we t hank you deeply from the bottom of our collective heart.

Cover Photo © Sean Hale // Video Reel © Read Poetry