Kalamazoo Poetry Festival

March Workshop: Markeva Love, Worth The Detour
2025-03-11 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Detroit) | First Congregational Church, 345 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
Workshop details and facilitator are forthcoming.

March Workshop
Facilitator:
Markeva Love
Workshop Name:
Worth The Detour
Workshop Description:
“Hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to get caught up in the things we think we want/ desire or deserve. “ Attendees will discuss/ write about a time or an event where they did not get what they wanted, but it actually worked in their favor… either to have not received it at all or just received it later. (Ex. First time experiencing love, even though it was toxic, you still wanted it, only to later realize it was never really love). The facilitator will instruct the attendees in how they have turned a situation like this into something constructive through writing. The attendees will have time to write, and will have an opportunity to read their work to the group at the end of the workshop.
Note:
This is an in-person workshop. Writing utensils and paper will be provided. Water and Coffee will also be available at the event. Please arrive several minutes early, so the workshop can start promptly on time.
Accessibility:
– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.

Register Here

March Workshop in Partnership With Fire: Tasleem Jamila, Gratitude Through the Divine Lens: Exploring Sacred Poetry
2025-03-08 13:00 - 15:00 | Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative, 1249 Portage Street, Kalamazoo, MI, 49001, United States
March Workshop in Partnership With Fire
*The event is meant for individuals 18-25 years of age.
Register for free
Facilitator:
Tasleem Jamila
Workshop Name:
Gratitude Through the Divine Lens: Exploring Sacred Poetry
Workshop Description:
In this workshop, participants will explore gratitude as a spiritual practice by drawing inspiration from writers who view the world through a sacred lens. Through poetry, they will express thankfulness for the divine and sacred aspects of life. The session will encourage participants to craft poems inspired by the mystical poets they are introduced to, with a focus on recognizing the divine both within themselves and in everyday moments.
Activity: Begin with a brief introduction to the theme of gratitude as a spiritual practice. Then, a short grounding exercise.
Introduce participants to a few mystical poets who write from a sacred perspective.
Read several selected poems aloud and discuss how these poets’ express gratitude and spirituality in their work.
Provide participants with several creative prompts inspired by the mystical poets you introduced earlier.
Participants will share their poems.
Note:
This is an in-person workshop. Writing utensils and paper will be provided. Water and Coffee will also be available at the event. Please arrive several minutes early, so the workshop can start promptly on time.
Accessibility:
– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.

February Workshop: Sarah Steele, For Those Who Have Walked Beside Us
2025-02-11 18:30 - 20:00 | Northside Association for Community Development, 612 N Park St, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
February Workshop
FREE Tickets are first come first serve, they can be reserved once the Eventbrite page becomes available in late November.
Facilitator:
Sarah Steele
Workshop Name:
For Those Who Have Walked Beside Us
Workshop Description:
Who walked beside you when life felt heavy? Who made you feel seen, heard, or understood in ways that changed your heart? Who guided your steps, or simply stood with you in silence?
In this workshop, we will explore the power of gratitude through poetry, reflecting on those who have been our support in times of need. Through a process of personal writing, we’ll uncover the metaphors that best capture the impact of these pivotal relationships. This experience will invite you to express your appreciation in a deeply personal way, tapping into emotions of gratitude and connection. Together, we’ll transform these reflections into poems, and then bring them to life by writing them out on beautiful cards—so that you can share your words of thanks with the person who has made a difference in your life. Come prepared to honor the past, celebrate the present, and create something meaningful to share with someone who matters.
Note:
This is an in-person workshop. Writing utensils and paper will be provided. Water and Coffee will also be available at the event. Please arrive several minutes early, so the workshop can start promptly on time.
Accessibility:
– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.

Register Here

Ekphrastic Poetry and Art Making Event
2025-02-08 15:00 - 18:00 | Move With Joy, 1103 Portage St, Kalamazoo, MI, 49001, United States
Ekphrastic Poetry Event
Come make artwork inspired by the theme “Gratitude”. KPF is so grateful for our Kalamazoo community, and is excited to see what you create! This event is hosted by Dream Scene Placemaking of Kalamazoo at Move With Joy Studio, and sponsored by Kalamazoo Poetry Festival.
Dreamscene will be facilitating art making, and will be providing the art making materials. Once the artwork is made, the pieces will be scanned or photographed and sent to a community poetry organization in Kalamazoo called Friend of Poetry to inspire their writing of our Community Poem. This poem will be read at the Celebration of Community Poets in April. The artwork (from those who consent) will be displayed at the same event. The event will offer light refreshments.
Accessibility:
– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.
Co-Hosted By:
Dreamscene Placemaking and Move With Joy

Community Read and Mixer
2025-01-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Northside Association for Community Development, 612 N Park St, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
Community Read and Mixer
This event functions similar to an open mic in the way that there will be a sign-up sheet at the beginning of the event, and each reader will have 3-5 minutes to read a piece. The catch is that this piece must be a work in progress. The Emcee will introduce every reader by their name, and the reader will be instructed to give no preface to the work. The works in progress that are read will be the attendees only introduction to each other for the mixer portion. There will be light refreshments, and a DJ at this event.The sign-up to read will be in-person at the event. Doors open at 5:30pm. Come early if you want to sign up! There is a strict 3.5 minute reading time, so please do not preface your work. Choose your piece (or portion of piece) carefully! Show us what you got!
Emcees:Casey Grooten and Elizabeth KerlikowskeHosted by: BACC, NACD, and KPF
Accessibility:– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.

RSVP For The Event

January Workshop: Tasleem Jamila, Echoes of Abundance: A Journey Through Sound and Poetic Affirmation
2025-01-07 18:30 - 20:00 | First Congregational Church, 345 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
January Workshop
FREE Tickets are first come first serve, they can be reserved once the Eventbrite page becomes available in late November.
Facilitator:
Tasleem Jamila
Workshop Title:
Echoes of Abundance: A Journey Through Sound and Poetic Affirmation
Workshop Description:
Echoes of Abundance invites participants to immerse themselves in the healing frequencies of gratitude through sound, voice, and poetic affirmation. Using rhythmic breathwork, vocal toning, and guided soundscapes, we’ll explore how gratitude, expressed through words and music, amplifies abundance and raises our energetic vibration. Participants will create and share their poetic affirmation songs, embracing how the power of repetitive, gratitude-infused chants can foster inner healing and connection. We’ll harmonize our voices in communal chants, cultivating a resonant space for personal and collective transformation.
Note:
This is an in-person workshop. Writing utensils and paper will be provided. Water and Coffee will also be available at the event. Please arrive several minutes early, so the workshop can start promptly on time.
Accessibility:
– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.

Register Here

Workshop: Susan Blackwell Ramsey- There’s More Where That Came From: An Enthusiastic Approach to Revision
2024-11-08 18:30 - 20:00 | First Congregational Church, 345 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
FREE Tickets are first come first serve, they can be reserved here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1042507507017?aff=oddtdtcreator
Facilitator:
Susan Blackwell Ramsey
Workshop Description:
There’s nothing greater than the feeling of having finished a poem, yet we’re often disappointed on rereading it. This workshop argues that this moment is where the real fun begins, that we should be grateful for first drafts because they provide us with the raw materials for exploration and discovery. Using approaches from detailed checklists and major surgery and recombination, participants will have a chance to experience approaches to revision wildly different from the notion of “fixing” the poem.
The facilitator asks that each participant bring a “dead poem”, or a poem that has been left behind.
Note: This is an in-person workshop. Writing utensils and paper will be provided. Water and Coffee will also be available at the event. Please arrive several minutes early, so the workshop can start promptly on time.
Accessibility:
– This even strives to be SCENT-FREE. Please consider leaving perfumes and fragrances at home.

Fall Open Mic
2024-10-10 18:00 - 20:00 | First Congregational Church, 345 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
The Kalamazoo Poetry Festival is hosting an Open Mic on October 10, 2024 in downtown Kalamazoo, at the First Congregational Church. The event takes place from 6-8pm.
Although we are (obviously) going for a spooky theme, the work you share does not need to be spooky in nature! However, costumes are greatly encouraged!
Come along, bring a friend, read your own work, or one of your favorite poems!
The event is FREE and open to the public. Sign up is in person. Get your spot while they last.
PLEASE RSVP and share widely!
*No hate speech of any kind will be tolerated*
