Hope at Hand, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves children and adolescents throughout North Florida using poetry, creative expression and therapeutic strategies, hosted its inaugural Poetry Fest in 2016.  The festival has grown each year, in terms of both programming and participation, with this year’s event set to be bigger and better than ever before.  Melissa Ross, host of WJCT’s First Coast Connect, and Al Letson, Emmy and Peabody Award-Winning poet and playwright, will host the opening and closing ceremonies respectively.

In 2019 Hope at Hand will co-present the 4^th Annual Jax Poetry Fest with Friends of Hemming Park and The Performer’s Academy, with collaboration from the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Downtown Vision, Jacksonville Public Library and a consortium of local poets, facilitators and spoken word artists. The month-long celebration will feature weekly workshops at MOCA, poetry readings during lunch in Hemming Park, youth poetry contests, performances during ArtWalk and a full-day poetry festival with a closing celebration. 

Jax Poetry Fest has arranged for Mr. Letson, host of National Public Radio’s “Reveal”, to return to Jacksonville from California to emcee the closing celebration in Hemming Park on April 27, 2019.

“We are honored to host weekly programming coordinated by an exceptional organization like Hope at Hand during National Poetry Month,” says Christina Parrish Stone, Managing Director of Friends of Hemming Park.  “I am especially excited about the opening and closing celebrations in the park.  We’ll offer park visitors multiple opportunities for hands on participation, as readers, writers and through spoken word, at weekly events throughout April.  We’ll also share information about Jacksonville poets of both the past and present during lunch time exhibitions in the park.”

VIP tickets for the Jax Poetry Fest Closing Celebration with Al Letson are available for purchase on the event website, www.jaxpoetryfest.org. Hope at Hand, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves children and adolescents throughout North Florida using poetry, creative expression and therapeutic strategies, hosted its inaugural Poetry Fest in 2016.  The festival has grown each year, in terms of both programming and participation, with this year’s event set to be bigger and better than ever before.  Melissa Ross, host of WJCT’s First Coast Connect, and Al Letson, Emmy and Peabody Award-Winning poet and playwright, will host the opening and closing ceremonies respectively.

In 2019 Hope at Hand will co-present the 4^th Annual Jax Poetry Fest with Friends of Hemming Park and The Performer’s Academy, with collaboration from the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Downtown Vision, Jacksonville Public Library and a consortium of local poets, facilitators and spoken word artists. The month-long celebration will feature weekly workshops at MOCA, poetry readings during lunch in Hemming Park, youth poetry contests, performances during ArtWalk and a full-day poetry festival with a closing celebration. 

Jax Poetry Fest has arranged for Mr. Letson, host of National Public Radio’s “Reveal”, to return to Jacksonville from California to emcee the closing celebration in Hemming Park on April 27, 2019.

“We are honored to host weekly programming coordinated by an exceptional organization like Hope at Hand during National Poetry Month,” says Christina Parrish Stone, Managing Director of Friends of Hemming Park.  “I am especially excited about the opening and closing celebrations in the park.  We’ll offer park visitors multiple opportunities for hands on participation, as readers, writers and through spoken word, at weekly events throughout April.  We’ll also share information about Jacksonville poets of both the past and present during lunch time exhibitions in the park.”

VIP tickets for the Jax Poetry Fest Closing Celebration with Al Letson are available for purchase on the event website, www.jaxpoetryfest.org.