The 18th Annual Belfast Poetry Festival seeks teams of poets, performers, and artists, as well as individual artists and poets willing to be paired with someone of the festival’s choosing, for its annual juried presentation of original collaborative works featuring poetry combined with art in other mediums. The festival showcase will be held Saturday, October 14, 2023 in Belfast, Maine.

Saturday night’s showcase combines poetry with visual arts (painting, film, etc.), performance arts (music, dance, etc.), and artistic collaborations never before imagined. Work will be presented live in a multimedia hall with a performance stage, a sound system, and a large-scale projection screen for artwork, and will also be live-streamed.

Each collaborative team will have eight (8) minutes for presentation. Collaborations by teams of more than two people are welcomed and encouraged. The Belfast Poetry Festival is open to content of any kind and encourages the widest possible range of subject matter, tone, media, and style. The Festival prioritizes teams in which one or more members have a connection to Maine.

“We are committed to an inclusive roster of participants, and strongly encourage proposals from underrepresented voices,” said the Festival, in a news release. “A celebrated and eclectic stalwart of the region’s arts and literary scene, the festival  draws a devoted audience from across the state, and is one of the few community-based, non-academic literary festivals in the country.”

To be considered for this year’s collaborative showcase, please address submissions to belfastpoetryfestival@gmail.com by March 1. Please embed poems in the email message text and/or send images or clips as attachments. Include “2023 Submission” in the title of your email, and send:

-2-5 poems

-2-5 images of the collaborating artist’s work or audio or video material

-Short bios for each team member (75 words or less)

-Links to websites if available

-a brief written concept of your proposed poetry and arts collaboration, or your interest as an individual hoping to form a collaborative pair of the festival’s choosing.

Submissions will be reviewed by the Festival Committee. The Committee suggests you view the festival’s website to see past collaborations. Selected participants will be notified in April.

The festival follows a three-year rotation policy and discourages applications involving participants in the previous two festival years.

For more info see the Belfast Poetry Festival website at belfastpoetry.com.