CLICK HERE for a list of the 2019 contest winners!
We are thrilled to announce the details of our 7th Annual Modesto Poetry Festival, coming up on February 2nd, 2019!
Each year in February we organize and hold an all-day poetry festival featuring workshops, readings, and a featured poet. This year, we are proud to welcome back featured poet Indigo Moor, Sacramento’s Poet Laureate, as our guest poet and workshop leader.
Join us on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Modesto for a day of poetry, learning, and inspiration! Click on the image at right to download the PDF flyer, and you can click here to download the registration form (which also has details about this year’s festival poetry contest).
Themes for this year’s contest are 1. Here in this House; 2. What Remains; 3. The Edge of the Sea; 4. In and Out of Fashion (Life a la Mode). Submissions to the poetry contest must be postmarked by the CONTEST DEADLINE: JANUARY 11, 2019. Please see the form for more information.
WORKSHOP THEME: Beginnings, Endings, and the Practiced Magic Between
Poetry is not naive. It is a concise language that artistically expresses an emotionally constructed moment. Getting into and out of the poem should be akin to stepping into a flame and exiting a nearly frozen stream… or vice versa. Between these precise bookends, we must exercise a balancing of image and statement that neither obscures the meaning nor presents a stale representation of the poetic intent. This presentation and workshop will cover the artistic construction of poems, groups of poems, and a manuscript.
We will begin by examining and discussing the works of contemporary poets writing in myriad styles. There will be several optional exercises and a chance to share at the end. The focus of this workshop will be to teach you the ruthless, practiced beauty necessary to make your poetry move and flow in your intended direction.
— Indigo Moor