Musical performance by Jose Gonzalez & Criollo Clasico
Martín Espada’s reading will begin at 6 pm
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PURCHASE LIVESTREAM TICKETS
PURCHASE WEEKEND PASS
The second day of the 2021 Sunken Garden Poetry Festival includes a poetry workshop; open mic readings; readings by and discussions with contributors to The Poetry of Capital (an anthology released in 2021), moderated by the editors Ben Grossberg and Clare Rossini; and a musical performance. We conclude with presenting poet Martín Espada reading from his latest book, Floaters, as well as his 9/11 poem “Alabanza.”
The Festival will take place on Hill-Stead’s expansive and picturesque West Lawn, allowing attendees to be safely socially distanced. Seating will be limited, but a livestream ticket option is also available for those who may prefer to tune in from the comfort of home. Your admission allows you to enjoy all of the day’s activities (does not include admission to the workshop).
Please bring a blanket, chairs, and a picnic if you like.
Martín Espada has published more than twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. His new book of poems from Norton is called Floaters. Other books of poems include Vivas to Those Who Have Failed (2016), The Trouble Ball (2011), The Republic of Poetry (2006), and Alabanza (2003). He is the editor of What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump (2019). He has received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Creeley Award, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, the PEN/Revson Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. The Republic of Poetry was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The title poem of his collection Alabanza, about 9/11, has been widely anthologized and performed. His book of essays and poems, Zapata’s Disciple (1998), was banned in Tucson as part of the Mexican-American Studies Program, outlawed by the state of Arizona, and reissued by Northwestern. A former tenant lawyer in Greater Boston, Espada is a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Schedule
1:30 pm Gates Open
2 pm Open Mic (see below to register to read)
3 pm Readings and discussion from The Poetry of Capital
4:45 pm Musical performance by Jose Gonzalez & Criollo Clasico
6 pm Martín Espada reading
7 pm Book Signing
Related Events
Open Mic @ the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival
September 11, 2pm
Registration is free with admission to the festival Purchase festival ticket
One registration per participant; readings are limited to a maximum of 5 minutes
Register here
Lyric Economies: Craft and Capitalism in Poetry with Will Cordeiro
September 11, 11:30am to 1:30 pm
$15 per person; advance registration required
Register here
For additional poetry events, see 2021 Sunken Garden Poetry Festival or our Calendar.
Tickets
In-person ticket | $20 adults; $10 students 18 & under; $25 after September 6 & at the gate
Purchase in-person tickets here
For reserved seating, please join The Live Poets Society.
Livestream ticket | $10 per household
Enjoy the world-class Sunken Garden Poetry Festival from the comforts of your own backyard or couch!
Purchase livestream tickets here.
SGPF Weekend Pass | $45 per person
Includes admission to the entire weekend’s activities (poetry workshops not included)
Purchase weekend pass here; on sale only through September 6
Accessibility at the SGPF
Hill-Stead is proud to make the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival accessible. Wheelchair ramps are available, and many volunteers are on hand to assist the mobility impaired. An accessible section is reserved close to the main stage, and a large-print edition of the program book is available on-site.
Hill-Stead makes every effort to ensure that deaf and hard-of-hearing people feel welcome. ASL interpreters are provided at the main Poetry stage (depending on interpreter availability) or by request in advance by calling 860-677-4787 x131.
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