This island is a magical place. It is difficult to describe its magic to anyone who hasn’t visited, and perhaps anyone who hasn’t lived on her shores. It is a beautiful place, but it holds more than beauty: the magic of the island runs under the ground, rises through the fog, flows through the trees, whistles between gusts of wind, calls out when the foghorn blows. Nantucket has been a community of artists since early in her history, with the Almanack Arts colony, and generations of painters, sculptors, filmmakers, and writers that have shaped the island into what she is today. Nantucket is full of creative energy—it celebrates artists, it loves art, and it inspires creation.
I started the Nantucket Poetry Festival on a whim, the summer after graduating from Nantucket High School. Annye Camara, a prominent member of the island community, and I were speaking about how she always wished there were more poetry events on the island. Together, we arranged the first festival, which was called the Farewell Fest, meant to commemorate my childhood, the ending of my “growing up on Nantucket,” and give back everything I had been given during my years here. I had planned it as a one-off event, and entered college believing it would be so.
But the wave of positivity from the Nantucket community took me aback. Everyone who had attended wanted to see the festival again. Anyone who couldn’t make it was wondering when the next festival would be. Once I saw that excitement, I couldn’t give it up. We came back in 2025, and now again, to run this 2026 program, which features not only poets and artists from the island, but welcomes writers from the shores and inlets of greater New England.
The Nantucket Poetry Festival is beholden to the island, and to the art of poetry. It is scrappy, and earnest, and celebrates the authenticity and beauty of local art. Our festival was built to bring people together, to honor the magic of Nantucket, the art that has been created here and will be created on her shores, for as long as she lasts. Now, in our third year, we are honored to continue doing so.
— Anna Popnikolova
Founder & Executive Director
Genesis
Nantucket Poetry Festival Team
Anna Popnikolova
Founder & Executive DirectorAnna Popnikolova is a rising junior at Harvard College, studying Philosophy and Slavic Literature. She is involved with the Harvard Advocate’s poetry board, is assistant poetry editor of House House Magazine and a recent member of the Signet Society. She has been writing poetry for years, and was previously published in Blue Marble Review, Trace Fossils Review, and The Harvard Advocate. Popnikolova placed third in the Massachusetts Poetry Out Loud final, and has spent her Junior summer interning for NPR’s Cape & Islands radio branch. Some of her favorite poets include Billy Collins, Richard Siken, Carol Ann Duffy, Louise Glück, and (of course) Mary Oliver.
Jessie Leitzel
Operations & Editorial DirectorJessie Leitzel was born in the Pennsylvania mountains and raised in Charleston, SC. She is a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and the author of The Small Hours (2024). Leitzel’s work has been featured in Rattle, The Interlochen Review and Poetry, among others, and was commended by the YoungArts foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the Co-founding Editor of Trace Fossils Review, a nonprofit promoting student literary excellence, and conducts research on the contemporary place essay. A student of the English and Slavic departments, Leitzel studies at Harvard University.
Forrest Lindsey
Social Media ManagerForrest Lindsey (he/him) is a poet interested in exploring the spaces that arise when the mind unravels with ekphrastic, contrapuntal, and confessional verse. As a recent Columbia MFA grad with several years of publishing industry experience, Forrest is invested in connecting with poets who share his interest in the intersection of the personal and the political.