Award-winning poet and native St. Louisan returns to give the keynote address at the 3rd annual Brick City Poetry Festival. He will read his works and his offer his thoughts on poetry in today’s social climate. Troupe is 2010 recipient of the American Book Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement.
Borderland Regional Slam finds a new home in the Brick City Poetry Festival as 8 or more teams from nearby cities are expected to compete for $1,000 in this half-day tournament on Oct 21st, 4 pm – 10 pm.. Originally launched as wordXfest in the summer of 2015 as a single bout, it has expanded to include a preliminary round and championship bout with winning teams.
In partnership with Urban Word NYC and Gateway Writing Project, UrbArts will host the second annual St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate Ceremony at University City Public Library, Oct 20th, 6 pm. Twelve finalists will be named Youth Poetry Ambassador and the winning poet will be announced as the 2017 St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate.
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Unity Community
@ Saint Louis University
St. Louis knows divides. Whether its the Delmar Divide or its history of Jim Crow segregation,
the divide has manifested in its cultural community, particularly among poets. Unity Community will
bring together poets from throughout the region to share their stories, poems, and approaches to creating art.
This event is sponsored by the SLU English Department with special support from the St. Louis Poetry Center.
Free & Open to the public
Pre-Festival Schedule
Monday, Oct 16th
River Styx at the Contemporary Arts Museum kicks off our pre-festival events with an evening read.
Tuesday, Oct 17th
Night two of the pre-festival events takes us to East St. Louis as the Eugene B. Redmond Writers’ Club host a special reading.
Wednesday, Oct 18th
The final pre-festival event features a special screening of David Wraith’s documentary, The Roof is on Fire, about the legendary Wabash Triangle Cafe.
Festival Schedule
Thurs, Oct 19: Festival Opening Convocation
The 3rd Annual Brick City Poetry Festival opens with a convocation featuring musical and spoken word performances by leaders of the diverse poetry communities of the Greater St. Louis metro area. Pacia & James Stone Goodman co-host this opening event.
Fri, Oct 20th: Youth Poetry Takeover
9 am – noon | VerbQuake Youth Poetry Summit @ St. Louis Community College at Forest Park Student Center, Free
6 pm – 7:30 | St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate Ceremony @ University City Library, Free
9:00 – midnight | UrbPoetry at Legacy Bar & Grill, $5.00
Sat, Oct 21: Unity Community
10 am – 2:30 | Unity Community @ SLU
4:00 – 6:00 | Borderland Preliminary in Old North STL, Free
8 pm – 10:00 | Borderland Regional Poetry Slam Final @ UrbArts, $10.00
Sun, Oct 22: Keynote & Closing
1:00 pm | Missouri Poet Laureate Reading
3:00 pm | Quincy Troupe keynote address