We're thrilled to announce that the Cleveland Poetry Festival is back Tuesday, April 22-Saturday, April 25!
This year’s festival theme is "Language as Liberation," named for the newly published book of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's academic and honoring the Ohio native's venerable legacy in American literature and culture.
Throughout the festival, we will explore the liberatory potentialities in writing new and different forms of poetry, building literary community, sharing creative work across social and cultural lines, and incorporating the themes and ethics of Toni Morrison's biography and art into our own.
This festival is sponsored by Mac's Backs Books. Partners include Loganberry Books, Hexagon Books, ThirdSpace Reading Room, Clevo Books, The Wandering Lantern, Reading Room CLE, and Visible Voice Books as well as Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, Cleveland Arts Prize, CSU Poetry Center, One Mic Open, Poetry Unplugged, and Con Tú.
Led by Felicia Zamora
In Song of Solomon Toni Morrison wrote, “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” To honor her works, we’ll be writing into risk, surrender, vulnerability, and the unique song that each of us holds in our interior. Together, we will commune with Morrison’s wisdom, the comforts that might pause you, and the discomforts that may move your work forward, closer to the winged artistry your writing is capable of.
Led by Ahmad Almallah
In this virtual workshop we'll be reading excerpts from Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark to see how poems can challenge stereotypes, use them ironically and how to check our work in order to make sure it does not fall into the traps of stereotypes.
Led by Scott Woods
This session creates, drafts, then edits the work through a series of genre-bending edits. What happens when your poem becomes a haiku? Or changes perspective? Good for those facing writers block or who just want to see everything their poems are capable of.
Join us for a free reading featuring Cleveland Arts Prize-winning poets at the Heights Theater at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Blvd on Friday, April 24. This event features brief poetry readings by Ali Black, Mary Biddinger, George Bilgere, Kisha Nicole Foster, Stephanie Ginese, Dave Lucas, Ray McNiece, Philip Metres, and Mary Weems as well as a tribute to Rita Dove.
On Saturday, April 25, celebrate Independent Bookstore Day 2026 by taking part in our official FREE Poetry Crawl. Attend one event or join us for the full crawl!
10:30am - Loganberry Books with host: Eric Odum
11:30am - Hexagon Books with host: JP "BARRiOBOY" Hernandez
12:30pm - Mac's Backs with host: Substance
1:30pm - ThirdSpace Reading Room with host: Calil "Just C.O.S." Cage
2:30pm - Clevo Books with host: Lindsay Turner
3:30pm - Wandering Lantern Books with host: Lake Erie Ink
4:30pm - Reading Room CLE with host: Hilary Plum
7:00-8:30pm ET at Visible Voice Books
Saturday evening's closing reading at Visible Voice Books features a reading by conference presenter Scott Woods followed by an open mic for participants.
On Saturday, April 26, celebrate Independent Bookstore Day 2025 by taking part in our first official FREE Poetry Crawl.
#1 Loganberry Books - 11:00-11:30am ET with host Eric Odum of One Mic Open
#2 Appletree Books - 12:00-12:30pm ET with host George Bilgere of John Carroll University
#3 Mac's Backs-Books on Coventry - 1:00-1:30pm ET with host Ray McNiece of Tongue in Groove
#4 ThirdSpace Reading Room - 2:00-2:30pm ET with hosts Just C.O.S. and Morgan Paige of Poetry Unplugged
#5 Clevo Books - 3:00-3:30pm ET with host Philip Metres of John Carroll University ft. poetry in translation
#6 Visible Voice Books - 4:00-4:30pm ET with hosts Stephanie Ginese and TJ "Peachcurls" Maclin of Con Tú
We're thrilled to announce that the Cleveland Poetry Festival is back Tuesday, April 22-Saturday, April 25!
This year’s festival theme is "Language as Liberation," named for the newly published book of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's academic and honoring the Ohio native's venerable legacy in American literature and culture.
Throughout the festival, we will explore the liberatory potentialities in writing new and different forms of poetry, building literary community, sharing creative work across social and cultural lines, and incorporating the themes and ethics of Toni Morrison's biography and art into our own.
This festival is sponsored by Mac's Backs Books. Partners include Loganberry Books, Hexagon Books, ThirdSpace Reading Room, Clevo Books, The Wandering Lantern, Reading Room CLE, and Visible Voice Books as well as Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, Cleveland Arts Prize, CSU Poetry Center, One Mic Open, Poetry Unplugged, and Con Tú.
Led by Felicia Zamora
In Song of Solomon Toni Morrison wrote, “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” To honor her works, we’ll be writing into risk, surrender, vulnerability, and the unique song that each of us holds in our interior. Together, we will commune with Morrison’s wisdom, the comforts that might pause you, and the discomforts that may move your work forward, closer to the winged artistry your writing is capable of.
Led by Ahmad Almallah
In this virtual workshop we'll be reading excerpts from Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark to see how poems can challenge stereotypes, use them ironically and how to check our work in order to make sure it does not fall into the traps of stereotypes.
Led by Scott Woods
This session creates, drafts, then edits the work through a series of genre-bending edits. What happens when your poem becomes a haiku? Or changes perspective? Good for those facing writers block or who just want to see everything their poems are capable of.
Join us for a free reading featuring Cleveland Arts Prize-winning poets at the Heights Theater at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Blvd on Friday, April 24. This event features brief poetry readings by Ali Black, Mary Biddinger, George Bilgere, Kisha Nicole Foster, Stephanie Ginese, Dave Lucas, Ray McNiece, Philip Metres, and Mary Weems as well as a tribute to Rita Dove.
On Saturday, April 25, celebrate Independent Bookstore Day 2026 by taking part in our official FREE Poetry Crawl. Attend one event or join us for the full crawl!
10:30am - Loganberry Books with host: Eric Odum
11:30am - Hexagon Books with host: JP "BARRiOBOY" Hernandez
12:30pm - Mac's Backs with host: Substance
1:30pm - ThirdSpace Reading Room with host: Calil "Just C.O.S." Cage
2:30pm - Clevo Books with host: Lindsay Turner
3:30pm - Wandering Lantern Books with host: Lake Erie Ink
4:30pm - Reading Room CLE with host: Hilary Plum
7:00-8:30pm ET at Visible Voice Books
Saturday evening's closing reading at Visible Voice Books features a reading by conference presenter Scott Woods followed by an open mic for participants.
