By Alexis Pencar
The 9th annual Sharon Springs Poetry Festival is back next weekend, 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 full weekend of readings, workshops, and discussion, and celebrating the “enduring importance of poetry in our cultural and civic life”.
In an exclusive interview with the Vice President of Klinkhart Hall Arts Center and the Board Chair of the Poetry Festival, Denise Kelly, we learned more about the exciting details for this coming year.
“The School assembly and workshop aspect are always a highlight and it is a great way for students to be exposed to poetry”, Kelly offered. This year the school assembly for the Poetry Festival at SSCS involves Sharon Springs Central School students as well as other local students from surrounding schools like Canajoharie, Cooperstown, and Oppenheim-Ephratah-St.Johnsville.
“This special assembly allows students to sit with the poets in an intimate and open forum just for them. It takes courage to share your work” Kelly added. Conducted by Muldoon and the guest poets, these school specific 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”.
The need for educational experience and exposure remain paramount for Kelly: “Usually poets studied are poets of the past, making it surprising for students to learn there are contemporary poets currently publishing poetry.”
“From a chance meeting with Paul Muldoon many years ago to the Festival it is today, this has been quite the evolution over the years, making it interesting to reflect on heading into the 9th.” said Kelly. Adding, “Seeing poets recite their own poems takes on a whole new life, with inflection, that can be quite magical.”
Denise Kelly concluded that she is “Very grateful to continue the Festival over the years, especially for all those who volunteer” and that, “People have come from the very beginning for the workshops!” Confirming the significance of this annual event for many.
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.
This year’s Sharon Springs Poetry Festival will be one for the books so register for the workshops today! For more information and updates please visit www.KlinkhartHall.org.
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