Month-Long Poetry Festival Launches Saturday In St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Petersburg Poet Laureate Gloria Muñoz launches the first-ever City of Writers Poetry Festival Saturday.

The festival includes poetry readings, workshops and other events throughout April to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Muñoz, who was named the city’s poet laureate in October, told Patch that she created the festival because she “wanted to do something that created space and time for community.”

She added, “I wanted to do something that felt like a citywide poetry celebration.”

While St. Petersburg is known for its visual arts scene, the “literary arts are not as visible or loud,” she said. “But we are very much here.”

And the “City of Writers” moniker is fitting, Muñoz said. “That is one of the things that I love about this city, how many writers there are, how many literary events there are. You can find one on any given day. There’s always something going on in the literary arts. … I think it’s a really cool time to be a writer here.”

When organizing the month-long festival, offering spaces to diverse voices was important to the poet.

“I really focused on the diversity of the festival and showing that St. Pete is a welcoming place,” she said. “I’m really happy about the festival as a whole. It promotes a lot of voices that don’t usually get the spotlight and it shows people that a Florida writer doesn’t look like any one thing, which is really important.”

Festival events include:

• April 1, 6:30 p.m., Ross Gay and the St. Pete Youth Farm at Tombolo Books
• April 4, 6 p.m., Poetry Hangout with Miesha and Keesha Brundridge at Moore Eventful
• April 8, 7 p.m., Speak Open Mic at The Factory
• April 11, 7 p.m., “Embers & Scars” Book Release at Tombolo Books
• April 13, 7 p.m., Poetry at the Dali
• April 20, 7 p.m., Roy Peter Clark Book Release at Tombolo Books
• April 21, 6 p.m., Youth Poetry Showcase and fundraiser for Cultured Books and the Barbershop Book Club at The Studio@620
• April 26, 7 p.m., AAPI Poetry Reading & Panel at the Warehouse Arts District Association
• April 29, 7 p.m., Poetry Party and Yellow Jacket Press Launch at The Studio@620
• April 30, 3 p.m., Al Downing Pam Jam at American Stage

Poetry workshops will also be held every Tuesday, 6 p.m., at The Factory with various community partners, including writers Tyler Gillespie, Piper Harrow and Melissa Carroll, as well as organizations Keep St. Pete Lit and Mi Gente Mi Pueblo.

Learn more about the City of Writers poetry events here.