The Poetry Project's 51st Annual New Year's Day Marathon

This ticketing page is ONLY FOR THE LIVESTREAM of the NYD Marathon. Livestream access is pay-what-you-can, suggested donation $10–30. The livestream link will be sent to registrants the morning of the marathon.

Please join The Poetry Project on January 1, 2025 for their 51st Annual New Year's Day Marathon:

A daylong celebration of the actualizing power of poetry and performance, the Marathon is an event that feels like it happens because it has to and wants to—because we need it to. It’s as though every year before and every year following were somehow all leading up to it—this day, a time-honored tradition and a spacetime anomaly. It’s the annual event by which we mark our calendars and simultaneously serves as a disruption to the very idea of time—a sort of ridiculous compass—a day when nothing makes sense, or maybe the only day when everything becomes clear.

We don't really know what the Marathon is, or how exactly it comes together, and probably never will. But what is certain is that the Marathon changes us every year—which is precisely the power of its expansiveness, magnetism, impact, and ability to bring us together. It is a testament to our belief that poetry, performance, the avant-garde, the raucous, sexy, surprising, subaltern, the weird, have the ability to effect change. A radical spark that stirs what is within us to ignition—a transformation and transmission that reaches beyond us. The Marathon is our annual reaffirmation in the strength of collectivity, in knowing that what we do here—together—does something.

Resonating within and across the legacies and lineages of past New Year’s Marathons—the first coordinated in 1974 by the ever-wonderful and much beloved co-founder and past Director of the Project, Anne Waldman—this monumental gathering features over 130 poets, musicians, dancers, writers, and performers who share work throughout the day. The Marathon has become our annual calling card, a rallying cry, and biggest fundraiser.

The funds raised at the New Year's Day Marathon directly support:

  • The Poetry Project’s 50+ live readings and events which are livestreamed (for free!) and reach thousands of in-person and virtual attendees each year
  • Our quarterly Newsletter which publishes a breadth of creative and scholarly writing
  • Our learning programs which serve hundreds of workshop attendees each season, including at least 3 fully-funded scholarship recipients per workshop
  • The payments we make to the 200+ performers, readers, educators, lecturers, editors, curators, and writers we work with each year—as well as the audio and video techs that make our programs possible

The Marathon is crucial to sustaining The Poetry Project’s mission to serve and advocate for the vast community of poets, writers, artists, thinkers, and students who gather and make work here, and strengthens this cultural anti-enterprise that we have been collectively building for a half a century plus.

As we head into another year of compounded grief, unprecedented challenges, and palpable uncertainty, we look forward to the possibility of being with you all on January 1. What is there to hold onto? Each other, this day, our joy, our rage. Our impossible project. How do we hold onto it? By coming together. By organizing. With impossible belief.

See you in the New Year,
The Poetry Project

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The Poetry Project's 51st Annual New Year's Day Marathon will begin at 1pm on New Year's Day and run until midnight on January 2nd. The event will be divided into two sections, which will be ticketed separately: 1–6pm and 7pm–midnight, with an hour break in between. During the hour break, the sanctuary will be cleared so that we can reset the space.

Tickets to each section are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. If you would like to attend the entire event, please purchase a ticket to both sections!

We're thrilled this year to offer a limited number of Late Night tickets, which will grant you admission to the marathon from 9pm on. Late Night tickets are available in advance for $20.

The entire event will also be livestreamed. Access to the livestream is pay-what-you-can, suggested donation $10–30.

Part One (1–5pm) tickets are available here.

Part Two (6pm–midnight) and Late Night tickets are available here.

Performers by section and by hour to come later this week! Until then, here's this year's Marathon performers:

Dina AbdulhadiAria AberAngela AbiodunKimberly AlidioStine AnJonathan ApreaMirene ArsaniosLauren BakstJess BarbagalloJames BarickmanArewà BasitMorgan BassichisJim BehrleEdmund BerriganAnselm BerriganMalcolm-x Bettsmayfield brooksBeth & Lee Ann BrownTess Brown-LavoieBuffySol CabriniKyle Carrero Lopez & Untitled QueenIV CastellanosAnna CataldoCharlene IncarnateTaja CheekYoshiko Chuma & Dane TerryJohn ColettiCAConradLou CornumBrenda CoultasAlex CuffKyle DacuyanMarcos de la FuenteMónica de la TorrePatrick DeDauwGarrett DevoeMarcella DurandTess DwormanAaron EdgcombMel ElbergWill FarrisJennifer FirestoneBrandon FlynnFoamolaKay GabrielHeather GlynisTilghman Alexander GoldsboroughGary Gustavo GomezJonathan GonzalezE. Tracy GrinnellAnahit GulianIsabella HammadNile HarrisNazareth HassanLaura HenriksenSky HopinkaJuliana HuxtableSunny IyerChristopher Rey PérezChar Jeré & Ava RoseEmily JohnsonNiall JonesNyle KaliskiVincent Katzerica kaufmanJohn KeeneZora Jade KhirySahar KhraibaniDavid KirschenbaumBenjamin KruslingYaz LancasterCar LaraT LaxKris LeeAnnabel LeeRachel LevitskyLey (Lysis)Er LinskerBrandon LopezPedro LopezWendy LottermanFilip MarinovichAlisha MascarenhasGreg MastersTracey McTagueNoa MendozaRoberto MontesDave MorseAnna MoschovakisTenaya Nasser-FrederickAnahid NersessianChristian NyampetaOHYUNGFunto OmojolaPrecious OkoyomonLaura Ortman & Katherine LiberovskyaJeannine OtisDAYS (Ethan Philbrick + Ned Riseley), Matt Proctorm.s. RedCherriesTed ReesEvelyn ReillyBob RosenthalAnthony Roth Costanzo with Bryan WagornJudah RubinRude Mechanical OrchestraTamara SantibañezRyan SawyerJimin SeoSalma ShamelEleni SikelianosPamela SneedPatricia Spears JonesSara Jane StonerStacy SzymaszekJordan TannahillAlex TatarskySelendis Sebastian Alexander ThompsonEdwin TorresNora TreatbabyMariana ValenciaMorgan VõAnne WaldmanNicole WallaceAnangookwe WolfSacha YanowOscar yi HouDon YortyCerine ZDeepali ZeerMohammed Zenia Siddiq Yusuf Ibrahim