Program

The 2008 Festival was a great success!  You can still find the program and links to short biographies of the poets on this page.

Click here to download a full schedule of events.

Half-hour readings on the Main Stage of the Concert Tent by Festival Poets are tentatively scheduled for:

Thursday Evening Friday Evening Saturday Sunday Afternoon
C. D. Wright Brenda Hillman Coral Bracho Robert Hass
Martín Espada Franz Wright Linda Pastan Maxine Kumin
Jane Hirshfield Naomi Shihab Nye Peter Cole Ted Kooser
Mark Doty Edward Hirsch Chris Abani Charles Simic
Joy Harjo Lucille Clifton Sharon Olds Billy Collins

Please note: Taha Muhammad Ali who had been announced to read at the Festival will be unable to participate this year. We look forward to his return in the future.

Saturday Evening will feature a special event on the Main Stage that will include over twenty Festival Poets.

Early Morning Poems will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and will feature Coleman Barks and Jane Hirshfield.

The Poetry Festival will run from Thursday, September 25th, through Sunday, September 28, 2008 at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, New Jersey.

Events on all four days begin at 8:00 a.m.

During the day-time hours, from 8:00 a.m. through 5:45 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and from 8:00 a.m. through noon on Sunday, there can be as many as ten events running simultaneously on the many sound stages set-up in tents and buildings throughout Waterloo Village.

The program on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will run until approximately 10:00 p.m.

Sunday’s program will be scheduled to end at 4:00 p.m.

There have been occasions when the program has run over its scheduled end-time. Be sure to allow for this if you must schedule return travel via bus, train or plane.