Tuesday, April 28, 2026
7:30 p.m. ET | Virtual
Free and open to all. Registration required for virtual program access.
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This signature reading, fundraiser, and closing celebration of National Poetry Month features leading and legendary actors, artists, dancers, musicians, chefs, and other notable public figures sharing poems with viewers from small towns and big cities throughout the United States and countries around the world.
Newly announced readers include acclaimed soprano Julia Bullock, writer and book critic Dwight Garner, jazz bassist and Grammy Award-winning composer Christian McBride, and singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers. The event will be hosted by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Tracy K. Smith and will also feature previously announced participants: Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Louise Erdrich; interdisciplinary artist Coco Fusco; actor and author Nick Offerman; stage and screen actor John Rothman; journalist, author, and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver; U.S. Poet Laureate and Chancellor Emeritus Arthur Sze; National Youth Poet Laureate Evan Wang; and Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao.
The live chat during the event will be hosted by poets Kweku Abimbola, Ana Portnoy Brimmer, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Steven Espada Dawson, Diamond Forde, Salaam Green, Gabriel Antonio Reed, and Robin Walter.
For assistance with registration, donations, or accessing the virtual event, please contact [email protected].
2026 Leadership Award Honorees:
The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze
Donations support K–12 poetry education
Contributors to the event provide much-needed funds to help underwrite our educational programs and enable us to invite viewers from around the world to join us for an uplifting reading of poems during this unifying global event. Give an additional gift today to support Poetry & the Creative Mind, poetry's biggest night in, and National Poetry Month.
Your donation will automatically register you for Poetry & the Creative Mind 2026.