Acclaimed poets, other writers and musicians will be featured in the third annual Flower City Poetry Fest 2026 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. June 10-12.
The event, formerly Poetry in the Bowl, is planned for the Highland Bowl, 1127 South Ave. In case of rain, it will be moved to Third Presbyterian Church, 4 Meigs St. People are asked to pay what they can for admission.
The headliners for this year’s festival are Kimiko Hahn and Cornelius Eady, both of whom will appear June 12.
Hahn, who has written 11 collections of poetry, including “The Ghost Forest: New & Selected Poems,” is the 2025-27 New York state poet laureate, the winner of numerous awards and a distinguished professor in the MFA program of Queens College, CUNY.
Eady, born in Rochester, grew up in Corn Hill and attended John Marshall High School. “It was at the Rundel (Library downtown) that I began my unguided journey with poetry, drifting in the stacks, picking up and sampling whatever books caught my eye, maybe wondering if I’d ever grow up to write something good enough to make it to those stacks,” he recalled in a 2021 interview. He is the author of seven books of poetry and winner of the 2025 Wallace Stevens Award, the Academy of American Poets’ recognition of lifetime achievement in poetry. In 2026, he read his poem “Proof” at the inauguration of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He co-founded the Cave Canem Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to cultivating African-American poets’ growth.
Wednesday, June 10
Willa Carroll, Aries J, Sarah Freligh and Dead Metaphor Soiree will appear.
Carroll is a writer, performer, filmmaker, interdisciplinary artist and the author of “Nerve Chorus” and “Demolition Suite.” She won Writers & Books’ 2026 Poetry Festival Contest.
Aries J is the founder of Just Write Experience and author of “Journey to Womanhood: A Poetic Rite of Passage.”
Freligh is an educator and author of eight books, including “Other Emergencies and Sad Math,” and the winner of the Moon City Press Poetry Prize.
Dead Metaphor Soiree members Curt and Nani Nehring Bliss adapt poetry into original music in blues, folk, cabaret and art song traditions.
Thursday, June 11
Amanda Eke, Emmanuel Xavier, Writers & Books’ Teen Poetry Contest winners, the Rochester Oratorio Society and TYES will appear.
Eke is a Nigerian-American spoken-word poet, filmmaker and journalist whose PBS docuseries, “The Poet Speaks with Amanda Eke,” documents spoken word communities around the world. She also streams on the Archeology Channel. She is host of The Poet Speaks Podcast.
Xavier is a poet, performer and the author of “Pier Queen,” “Americano,” “Love(ly) Child” and “Still, We Are Sacred.”
Teen Poetry Contest participants are Bronwyn Capps (a ninth grader at School of the Arts who received $100 as the winner), Carnaisia Ellis Johnson, Breanna Krueger, Emily Quintana, Moriah Wilson and Madelyn Wilson.
The Rochester Oratorio Society, which co-hosts the contest, will give an ensemble choral performance of Capps’ award-winning poem, “Freedom.” This year’s contest focused on that theme in honor of the U.S. Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary.
TYES is the Rochester-based duo Tyler Cassidy Heacock and Esther Rogers Baker, involving voice and cello.
Friday, June 12
Besides Hahn and Eady, Leonora Simonovis will speak and Adrienne Mack-Davis will perform.
Simonovis is a Venezuelan American poet, editor, educator, and the author of “Study of the Raft,” winner of the 2021 Colorado Prize for Poetry.
Mack-Davis, a classically trained singer and songwriter originally from Rochester, infuses soul, R&B, hip hop, dance and pop. Besides performing in live shows, her website says, she has participated in more than 50 service workshops in more than nine countries on such topics such as anti-human trafficking, entrepreneurship, creative arts and women’s empowerment.
For information, go to https://wab.org/poetry-festival/.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester poetry fest brings big names and local talent outdoors
Reporting by Laura Nichols, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
