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2024 Benefit Poetry Reading


ABOUT THIS EVENT
Livestreamed and In-Person

Giveaway Items

The Poetry Program at the Community of Writers is founded on the belief that when poets gather in a community to write new poems, each poet may well break through old habits and write something stronger and truer than before. After two years meeting online, we are ready to return to our home of over 50 years: Olympic Valley in the California Sierra Nevada.

Join us for an unforgettable evening of poetry live in the California Sierra Nevada, and streamed online from the comfort of your home. Our annual Benefit Poetry Reading will feature poems from our 2024 Poetry Staff: Blas Falconer, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Patricia Spears Jones, Brynn Saito, and Matthew Zapruder

The Community of Writers has a robust scholarship program; its purpose is to facilitate attendance by poets who would otherwise be unable to attend, or poets from communities whose voices are underrepresented in the poetry world. These scholarships traditionally come in the form of tuition waivers, but they often also cover housing and food for participants, the costs of which have increased 22% since 2019, the last year we met in person. This increase in the price of housing and meals has put significant strain on our budget for 2022, but we hope that through your contribution this evening, we will be able to sustain the array of excellence and diversity among our poets that we have sustained year after year, ensuring that great poets become a part of our community regardless of their ability to pay. You can contribute by purchasing additional giveaway entries, or by giving directly to our scholarship fund. Many thanks for your generosity. If you would like to establish a scholarship fund to be granted annually, contact Brett Hall Jones at brett@communityofwriters.org.


FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T MAKE THE LIVE EVENT: If you can't make the live program at 7:30pm, you can replay the event at anytime - but you still need to register!  Once registered, you'll receive an email with details on where you can watch a replay.


MORE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY OF WRITERS POETRY WORKSHOP

The Poetry Program at the Community of Writers is founded on the belief that when poets gather in a community to write new poems, each poet may well break through old habits and write something stronger and truer than before. To help this happen we work together to create an atmosphere in which everyone might feel free to try anything. In the mornings we meet in workshops to read to each other the work of the previous twenty-four hours; each participant also has an opportunity to work with each staff poet. In the late afternoons we gather for a conversation about some aspect of craft. On several afternoons staff poets hold brief individual conferences. Director: Brenda Hillman.


For 50 summers, the Community of Writers has brought together poets and prose writers for separate weeks of workshops, individual conferences, lectures, panels, readings, and discussions of the craft and the business of writing. Our aim is to assist writers in the refinement of their craft and thus, in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support, move them closer to achieving their goals. The Community of Writers holds its summer writing workshops in Olympic Valley in the ski lodge at the foot of the ski slopes. Panels, talks, staff readings and workshops take place in these venues with a spectacular view up the mountain.

Please considering making a tax-deductible donation to the Community of Writers.


Thank you to our partners at Wildbound Literary PR:

Wildbound Book PR specializes in custom campaigns that use the latest trends in traditional media, social media, event and video production to build awareness for authors, publishers and storytellers. Learn more: wildboundpr.com


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Eric Blehm in conversation with Jim Zellers

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October 16

The Kirkus Prize 2024