2026 Poets
The Nantucket Poetry Festival brings together poets of the Cape and greater New England for five days of literary conversation, August 27-31, at venues spanning the island.
The full 2026 program will be announced in mid-August.
Visiting Poets
Mary Ellen Redmond's poems have appeared in a variety of journals, but the publication she is most proud of is the poem tattooed on her son's ribcage. She is the author of The Ocean Effect (2014) and I Have One Student (2026).
South Dennis, MA
John Bonanni won the Donald Hall Award for Poetry for his first book of poems, retrovirology (Pitt Poetry Series). He teaches on Cape Cod.
Capetown, MA
Watertown, MAAndrea Cohen’s most recent poetry collections are Sugar (2026) and The Sorrow Apartments (2024). She directs the Blacksmith House Poetry Series and teaches at Boston University.
VermontWyn Cooper has published six books of poetry, including, most recently, The Unraveling (2026). His first novel, Way Out West, was published in 2022.
Melissa Cundieff
Melissa Cundieff is the author of Darling Nova, selected by Alberto Ríos for the 2017 Autumn House Press Poetry Prize. She teaches at Harvard University.
Cambridge, MAPoets of the Island
Judy Belash spent the last twenty four of her eighty eight years retired on Nantucket, after over thirty years practicing law in NYC (which, it is worth noting, did not inspire poetry writing).
Sandy MacDonald has been writing, editing, and translating (French, Spanish, and Italian) since 1969. For the past two decades, poetry has been a pleasurable sideline.
A recent graduate of Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, Grace Manning draws inspiration in her poetry from those who are living between countries and continents, using their voices and emotions to try and understand her own.
Lucy McGowan writes from her hometown of Nantucket, where she lives with her daughter.
JohnCarl has won awards at festivals including the Nantucket Film Festival, Berkshire Student Film Festival, and Queen's World Film Festival. He works as a reporter for the Nantucket Current.