June 23, 2023 at 7:30 PM PDT
Join us for an unforgettable live-streamed evening of poetry from the California Sierra Nevada.
In person in Olympic Valley, and live online, our annual Benefit Poetry Reading will feature poems from our 2023 Poetry Staff & Special Guests. We are proud to welcome eight beloved poets to Olympic Valley, including three winners of the Pulitzer Prize, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, a winner of the International Griffin Poetry Prize, multiple Guggenheim recipients, an Ohioana Book Award winner, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award winner.
All proceeds benefit the 2024 Poetry Program scholarship fund.
The Community of Writers has a robust scholarship program; its purpose is to allow attendance by poets who would otherwise be unable to attend, or poets from communities whose voices are underrepresented in the poetry world. These scholarships traditionally come in the form of tuition waivers, but they often also cover housing and food for participants, the costs of which have increased 22% since 2019, the last year we met in person. This increase in the price of housing and meals has put significant strain on our budget for 2023, but we hope that through your contribution this evening, we will be able to sustain the array of excellence and diversity among our poets that we have made possible year after year, ensuring that great poets become a part of our community regardless of their ability to pay. You can contribute by purchasing additional giveaway entries, or by giving directly to our scholarship fund. Many thanks for your generosity. If you would like to establish a scholarship fund to be granted annually, contact Brett Hall Jones at brett@communityofwriters.org.
Watch last year’s benefit poetry reading here.
Kazim Ali • Victoria Chang • Forrest Gander • Carmen Giménez • Brenda Hillman • Evie Shockley
Special Guests: Robert Hass & Sharon Olds
Hosted by Amy Antongiovanni
This reading is presented in conjunction with our annual Poetry Program during which poets — participants and staff poets — write a new poem each day. At this reading, you may hear a reading of a poem written that very week!
Thanks to our sponsors!
Thank you to Wildbound PR for their support
Wildbound PR is a boutique literary PR and marketing firm, working with authors, publishers, and storytellers across the globe. We have partnered with Wildbound for numerous events, and they year they will again be livestreaming the benefit to viewers around the world.
There are two ways to attend the Benefit Reading:
Online |
In-Person |
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How: More Details: Note: The event will be on Vimeo or a similar system. For security of the stream, when it is time to log in, you will need to provide your name and email address again. Join early to make sure your sound and audio are working! |
How: Purchase Ticket in Advance. (Below) Note: Make sure you receive an email confirmation. Gmail users should check Gmail’s promotions tab. Contact us if you didn’t receive an instant confirmation. Where: This event will be held at the Palisades Tahoe Ski Area. We will meet out side on the Bar One Deck in Olympic Valley. 1990 Olympic Valley Road (Olympic House Lodge at the Palisades Tahoe Ski Area). See detailed Directions.What to Wear: Bring a jacket as it may get chilly when the sun sets! Safety: |
View last year’s Poetry Benefit Reading
TICKET PRICES
General Admission: $25 advance /$30 day-of
Students: $15 advance/$20 day-of
No one will be turned away. Contact us for more information.
REWATCH AT YOUR CONVENIENCE
All ticket holders will receive a link to view online, regardless of whether they will attend in-person or online. The same link can be used to rewatch the event on demand at your convenience.
GIVEAWAY ENTRIES
Purchase tickets to the giveaway for a chance to win one of fifteen gifts.
Giveaway items include:
- an autographed copy of a new book by one of our staff poets (8 available – one by each staff poet, randomly assigned)
- a collection of autographed books by all eight staff poets (1 available, 8 books included – mostly most recent publications)
- a softball played on at the 2023 poetry softball game, autographed by all staff poets (3 available)
- a copy of our fiftieth anniversary anthology: Why To These Rocks – autographed by Kazim Ali, Forrest Gander, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Sharon Olds and Evie Shockley: the 2023 staff poets anthologized within (3 available)
Giveaway ticket scale:
- 3 tickets: $25
- 10 tickets: $50
- 25 tickets: $100
- 100 tickets: $200
General Admission: $25 advance /$30 day-of
Students: $15 advance/$20 day-of
No one will be turned away. Contact us for more information.