PB Poetry Festival To Receive $10,000 Grant From The National Endowment For The Arts

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $10,000 to Palm Beach Poetry Festival, Inc. for fostering the writing, reading, performance and appreciation of poetry at its 15th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, Old School Square, in Delray Beach, Florida. The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

"The variety and quality of these projects speaks to the wealth of creativity and diversity in our country," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Through the work of organizations such as Palm Beach Poetry Festival, Inc. in Lake Worth, FL, NEA funding invests in local communities, helping people celebrate the arts wherever they are."

Miles A. Coon, Board Chairman, said "We are deeply honored to receive this grant from the National Endowment the Arts in support of the 15th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival which will attract poetry writers from all over America and other parts of the world to join us for a celebration of poetry's power to give each individual voice the best possible words and the best possible chance to be heard and felt."

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

The 15th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held January 21-26, 2019 at Old School Square in Delray Beach. The Festival will feature top poets at numerous events, including eight poetry writing workshops led by Ellen Bass, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Stuart Dischell, Aracelis Girmay, Campbell McGrath, Gregory Pardlo, Matthew Olzmann, and Eleanor Wilner; as well as 42 one-hour individual conferences taught by Lorna Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, and Nickole Brown.

In addition, 11 ticketed public events at the Festival will include an interview and reading by Special Guest Poet Sharon Olds; craft talks, panel discussion and readings by faculty; a performance by Tyehimba Jess, who will also appear at four local high schools; plus 10 free events including the Palm Beach County High School Poetry Contest and reading by five winners; the annual Ekphrastic Poetry Contest; two participant readings; and a conference providers reading.

Each workshop is 16 hours, limited to 12 participants, three auditors and one intern; admission by application. Workshops inspire new work and/or critique existing poems to improve revision skills. Grant funds will defray, in part, honoraria, travel and lodging expenses of the featured poets.

The Palm Beach Poetry Festival is presented in partnership with Old School Square and is generously sponsored by Art Works of the National Endowment for the Arts, Morgan Stanley, The Windler-Keel Group of Atlanta, GA, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, The Tourist Development Council of Palm Beach County; the Board of Commissioners of Palm Beach County, The Palm Beach Post, a grant from Visit Florida, WLRN-FM, and Murder on the Beach, Delray Beach's independent bookseller.

In 2010, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival an Arts Challenge Grant from The John S. and James L. Knight; and in 2011, it was presented with The Muse Award for Outstanding Cultural Organization (with a budget under $500,000) by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.

For more information about the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, please visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.

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