Summer is underway and for lovers of the arts in the Farmington Valley that means it's time for the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival.
The Hill-Stead Museum's 23rd Annual Sunken Garden Poetry Festival launches Wednesday night with the first of five performances and NBC Connecticut is partnering with the museum for the event.
The festival is held outdoors on the historical museum grounds off Route 4 in Farmington. There are poetry writing workshops before each reading and there are also concerts on the estate.
The museum also has an Impressionist art collection people can peruse and guests are welcome to walk the trails before the performance.
Here's the schedule for featured poets:
- Wednesday, June 24: Ted Kooser, Pulitzer Prize winner for 2005 and former U.S. poet laureate, 2004-06, and Hadara Bar-Nadav, Sunken Garden Poetry Chapbook Winner
- Thursday, June 25: Writing workshop with Kooser, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Sunday, July 12: Marie Howe, New York state poet laureate, 2012-14, Ciaran Berry
- Wednesday, July 22: Vijay T. Seshadrim, Pulitzer Prize winner for 2014, and Ravi Shankar
- Sunday, Aug. 9: Li-Young Lee and Brooklyn poet laureate Tina Chang, Outspoken: Celebration of Asian Poetry
- Wednesday, Aug. 19: Natalie Diaz, Aja Monet and Fresh Voices Competition winners, CT Young Poets Day
Visit www.hillstead.org for more information and to purchase tickets.
