Sharon Springs Poetry Festival Back This Oct

SHARON SPRINGS — Klinkhart Hall is pleased to announce the 9th annual Sharon Springs Poetry Festival, which will be held on Friday, October 17, and Saturday, October 18, 2025. This year’s festival welcomes acclaimed poets Timothy Donnelly, Jana Prikryl, Nicole Sealey, and festival founder Paul Muldoon for a weekend of readings, workshops, and discussion, celebrating the enduring importance of poetry in our cultural and civic life.

“From the outset, the Sharon Springs Poetry Festival has aimed to provide the region with direct access to poets of international standing, creating opportunities for both students and adult participants to engage with world-class talent and deepen their appreciation of poetry”, said Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Paul Muldoon, founder of the festival. “This year continues that approach with public readings, adult workshops, a panel titled Poetry and Public Life, and programs for students across the region.”

The festival will open on Friday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m. with a public reading at the Sharon

Springs Central School Auditorium. Donnelly, Prikryl, and Sealey will present selections from

their work in an evening that highlights the diversity and power of today’s poetry. Following the

reading, audience members will have the opportunity to meet the poets, purchase signed copies of their books, and engage with fellow poetry enthusiasts.

On Saturday morning, October 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the poets will lead in-person workshops for adult members of the community at locations in Sharon Springs. Donnelly, Prikryl, Sealey, and Muldoon will each conduct a workshop, which is free and open to participants 18 and older. Advance registration is required, and each session is limited to eight participants. Registrants must submit a poem of their own composition in advance to share and discuss. Space is limited to one workshop per person. These workshops provide a rare opportunity for community members to develop their craft under the guidance of nationally recognized poets. Participants will be contacted in advance of the workshops with more details. Register at www.KlinkhartHall.org/sharon-springs-poetry-festival-2025.

The festival will continue on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. with a panel discussion, Poetry and Public Life, at 204 Main Bistro in Sharon Springs. Donnelly, Prikryl, Sealey, and Muldoon will discuss the ways in which poetry shapes civic discourse, fosters dialogue, and contributes to the vitality of society.

As part of its ongoing commitment to education, the Sharon Springs Poetry Festival will once again include poetry workshops for area students. Sharon Springs Central School will host and

coordinate this special program, welcoming students from Sharon Springs, Canajoharie,

Cooperstown, Oppenheim-Ephratah-St.Johnsville. Conducted by Muldoon and the guest poets,

these sessions are not open to the public, but remain a central part of the festival’s mission, to

inspire young voices and affirm the importance of the arts in schools and communities.

For more information and updates please visit www.KlinkhartHall.org.