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Flower City Poetry Fest 2026Presented by Writers & Books and the Highland Park Conservancy
June 10, 11, and 12 | 6 – 8:30 PM
Tickets: Pay What You Can ($0, $10, $25, $50)
Highland Bowl, 1137 South Ave, Rochester, NY
Rain Venue: Third Presbyterian Church: 4 Meigs St, Rochester, NY
ASL interpreted; accessible venue
Immerse yourself in poetry and live music at Rochester’s incomparable outdoor amphitheater. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and settle in to absorb the lyrics of an exciting line-up of nationally renowned writers, beloved regional poets, and power-house local musicians. Stay to meet the poets and have copies of your books signed.
Returning for its third year, the Flower City Poetry Fest (previously “Poetry in the Bowl”) is an open-air, three-day celebration featuring award-winning poets and musicians with deep ties to New York State.
We are proud to announce our headliners for this year’s Poetry Festival, Kimiko Hahn and Marie Howe.
Kimiko Hahn is the author of eleven collections of poetry, including The Ghost Forest: New & Selected Poems. She is the 2025-2027 New York State Poet Laureate.
Cornelius Eady, born and raised in Rochester, is the author of seven books of poetry. In 2025, he won the Academy of American Poets’ Wallace Stevens Award, which recognizes lifetime achievement in poetry, and in 2026 he read his poem “Proof” before an audience of thousands at the inauguration of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
To inquire about sponsorship opportunities email: Chris Fanning at [email protected].
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Wednesday, June 10
Willa Carroll is a writer, performer, filmmaker, interdisciplinary artist, and the author of Nerve Chorus (2018) and Demolition Suite (2023). Carroll 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.
Sarah Freligh is an educator and author of eight books, including Other Emergencies and Sad Math, winner of the Moon City Press Poetry Prize.
With music by Dead Metaphor Soiree: Drawing from blues, folk, cabaret, and art song traditions, Curt and Nani Nehring Bliss adapt poetry into original music and adventure out into the witching borderlands between music and the spoken word.
Thursday, June 11
Amanda 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.
Emanuel Xavier is a poet, performer, and the author of Pier Queen, Americano, Love(ly) Child, and Still, We Are Sacred (2026), which explore queer identity, survival, faith, and belonging.
Youth Poetry Contest winners: Bronwyn Capps (winner), Carnaisia Ellis Johnson, Breanna Krueger, Emily Quintana, Moriah Wilson, and Madelyn Wilson.
The Rochester Oratorio Society will give an ensemble choral performance of Bronwyn Capps’ award-winning poem, “Freedom”.
With music by TYES (Tyler Cassidy Heacock and Esther Rogers Baker), a Rochester-based duo for voice and cello inspired by laughter, new music, and a dialogic collaborative style.
Friday, June 12
Leonora Simonovis is a Venezuelan American poet, editor, educator, and the author of Study of the Raft, winner of the 2021 Colorado Prize for Poetry.
Kimiko Hahn is the author of eleven collections of poetry, including The Ghost Forest: New & Selected Poems (W.W. Norton, 2024). She is the 2025-2027 New York State Poet Laureate.
Cornelius Eady, born and raised in Rochester, is the author of seven books of poetry. In 2025, he won the Academy of American Poets’ Wallace Stevens Award, which recognizes lifetime achievement in poetry, and in 2026 he read his poem “Proof” before an audience of thousands at the inauguration of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
With music by Adrienne Mack-Davis, a classically trained singer and songwriter originally from Rochester, NY who infuses Soul, R&B, Hip Hop, Dance, and Pop.
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Past festival poets: Albert Abonado, Anderson Allen, Geoffery Babbitt, Tyler Barton, Ralph Black, Cathy Linh Che, Chen Chen, Kathryn Cowles, Jessica Cuello, Cornelius Eady, Kathy Engel, Reenah Golden, Tokeya C. Graham, Lu Highsmith, Patricia Spears Jones, Tony Leuzzi, and David Shakes.
Thank you event funders and community partners: Rochester Downtown Courtyard Marriott, and Highland Park Conservancy!
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Event Venue
Highland Park Bowl, Poets Garden, 173 Reservoir Ave, Rochester, NY 14620, United States
Tickets
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