The 15th Annual Belfast Poetry Festival!

The 15^th Annual Belfast Poetry Festival is right around the corner, Friday and Saturday, October 18th and 19th! This year features some new things and some old favorites, including Maine State Poet Laureate Stuart Kestenbaum, a poetic walk through Belfast harbor, a zine fair, an open mic, and the collaborative showcase and multimedia extravaganza!

Artists of all stripes, musicians, and more poetry than ever will be on tap. Venues include Left Bank Books, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, the Belfast Harbor Walk, and the Troy A. Howard Middle School. All events except lunch are free.

On Friday the 18th, 7 pm, Maine Poet Laureate Stuart Kestenbaum will read at Left Bank Books. Reservations are recommended; please email or call 207.338.9009. Stuart is the author of five collections of poems, including most recently How to Start Over, and hosts the Maine Public Radio program Poems from Here and the podcast Make/Time. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser has written “Stuart Kestenbaum writes the kind of poems I love to read, heartfelt responses to the privilege of having been given a life. No hidden agendas here, no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love.”