January, 2013 – Apply Today to Be a Part of the PB Poetry Festival in January of 2013
I too, having lost faith / in language, have placed my faith in language. So writes Terrance Hayes in his poem “Snow For Wallace Stevens,” from his National Book Award winning collection “Lighthead.”
Doesn’t “language” in the context of this poem also mean poetry? Returning to earlier lines in the poem, Hayes asks us an important question, “How, with pipes of winter / lining his cognition, does someone learn / to bring a sentence to its knees?”
In the context of the upcoming festival, my response to this question is to suggest you indicate Terrance Hayes as your first choice of a workshop on your festival application! It isn’t just this poem that demonstrates the art and energy we find in the work of the award-winning poet, Terrance Hayes. Explore our website faculty bios and workshop descriptions. Take a moment to enjoy the entire poem “Snow for Wallace Stevens.”
The festival is a time when poets can put their faith in poems and language and the power of poetry like no other time of the year. We our events so that everything we do supports the work of poets, and celebrates poems and poetry.
Read more about Terrance Hayes at The Poetry Foundation , and The Academy of American Poets. Or read and listen to Hayes reading, introduced by David Wojahn at Blackbird.
Won’t you join us in January in Delray Beach? The dates are January 21-26, 2013, at Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach. In addition to Terrance Hayes, the festival faculty includes: B.H. Fairchild, Jane Hirshfield, Tony Hoagland, Laura Kasischke, Thomas Lux, Tracy K. Smith, and Lisa Russ Spaar.
Seize this opportunity to focus on your work in the extraordinary atmosphere of Delray Beach in January! We can’t guarantee the weather, but you can leave snow behind! Visit the workshop descriptions on our website–choose up to four poets with whom you would like to study. The more choices you list on your application, the better your chances of acceptance in a workshop of your choice. Workshops are limited to 12 participants and three auditors.
We would love to welcome you at the 9th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival. Apply today!