Online and In-Person: Join us for a Benefit Poetry Reading

June 21, 2024 at 7:30 PM Pacific

Join us for an unforgettable evening of poetry live in the California Sierra Nevada, and streamed online from the comfort of your home.

Our annual Benefit Poetry Reading will feature poems from our 2024 Poetry Staff: Blas Falconer, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Patricia Spears Jones, Brynn Saito, and Matthew Zapruder.

This event is free with a recommended donation of $25.

All proceeds benefit the 2025 Poetry Program scholarship fund.

And celebrating Patricia Spears Jones’s appointment to the inaugural Lucille Clifton Poetry Chair.

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. With your contributions, we are be able to sustain the 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.

Blas Falconer • Brenda Hillman • Major Jackson • Patricia Spears Jones • Brynn Saito • Matthew Zapruder

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!

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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

How: Register in Advance (below). More Details: Once you have registered (below) you will receive an email with a link to join the livestream. More information and reminders will be emailed in the days leading up to the event. 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. The event will be on Vimeo – a link will be provided via email. Join the chat to join the conversation! Join early to make sure your sound and audio are working!

How: Register 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: This event will be held outside under the setting sun and the stars. There will be ample room for distancing. Should we deem it necessary, we may require masking.

View last year’s Poetry Benefit Reading

TICKET PRICES

General Admission: FREE

Recommended Donation: $25

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 many unique gifts.

Giveaway items include:

• an autographed copy of a new book by one of our staff poets (6 available – one by each staff poet, randomly assigned)
• a collection of autographed books by all six staff poets (1 available, 6 books included – mostly most recent publications)
• a softball used at the 2024 poetry softball game, autographed by all Blas Falconer, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Patricia Spears Jones, Brynn Saito and Matthew Zapruder (3 available)
• a Community of Writers softball tee – complete with POET on the left sleeve (3 available)
• a copy of our Poetry Program founder Galway Kinnell’s collected works, and a copy of our fiftieth anniversary anthology: Why To These Rocks – autographed by Blas Falconer, Brenda Hillman, Major Jackson, Patricia Spears Jones and Matthew Zapruder: the 2024 staff poets anthologized within (3 available)

Giveaway ticket scale:

• 3 tickets (included in recommended donation registration): $25
• 10 tickets: $50
• 25 tickets: $100
• 100 tickets: $200

General Admission: FREE

Recommended Donation: $25

Register Below