Farewell Poetry Festival was started on a whim, from a conversation between Annye Camara and I at the Atheneum help desk in June 2024. Annye mentioned she'd always wanted to put together a poetry festival on Nantucket. I said, let's do it. I had been looking for a summer project, and putting on a poetry event seemed a worthy use of my summer.

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The 2024 season headlined Gregory Orr, and was thrown together in less than a month and a half. It was more successful than I thought it would be. More people showed up than we had seats for, and I received emails for weeks after from audience members, telling me how much they had loved the event, and how badly they wanted it to return the following year. I hadn't been planning to do another season; I didn't even know if I'd be on the island again, or if I'd be living in Boston after school ended.

 

As April came around, I was missing Nantucket, and I was missing the festival. I felt like I had really accomplished something, and I couldn't just leave it as a one-off. I began planning season 2. Here we are. Thank you to everyone who helps make this possible. Your contribution is so valuable. It's all worth it. 

 

- Anna P.