Last weekend, poetry invaded the city of Austin in the form of the Austin International Poetry Festival. Austin’s a pretty poetic city on any day of the year, but during the four days of AIPF it’s hard to avoid poets in any bookstore, coffee shop, or meeting place in town. And why would you want to? We are a lovely species.
As usual, the festival was a whirlwind of readings, workshops, meet & greets, performances, traffic obstacles, minor mishaps, sleeplessness, and poetic inspiration. (And yes, it IS possible to find poetic inspiration even in traffic obstacles. Just don’t try to write the poems while driving, as that would surely create more obstacles.)
People have been asking me how the festival went, and I have answered each of them the same way: with incoherent babble. Unfortunately, it’s hard to put into words everything that happens during this unique four-day fest. I’ll start off talking about the impressive level of poetry in di-verse-city, the festival anthology. Then I’ll meander into an anecdote about what it was like listening to Anna Yin talk about how she tried to quit poetry but couldn’t do it. Next I’ll launch into an excited rant about meeting Nikki Giovanni (because– wow!) before explaining that I’m still really quite tired from staying up all night for the Midnight-to-Dawn poetry reading at Full English. See? Babble.
I think the reason why AIPF can’t be summed up is because it shouldn’t be summed up. It’s not a cohesive flow of information from one presentation to the next. It’s a scatter of happenings. It is a dandelion puff of poetry seeds breathed across the city. AIPF is not an “outline” or an “agenda,” it is a poem itself. There are so many events and opportunities in the program that I truly believe no two people experience the festival in the same way.
So, instead of a summary, here are a few snippets from my own AIPF 2015 experience. To find out what your AIPF experience would be, save the dates for next year’s festival—April 7-10, 2016.
A few more events that are not pictured but deserve to be mentioned:
* I didn’t take any pictures this year, but the youth anthology reading is another festival favorite for me. AIPF produces a second anthology composed of poems by kids ages four to eighteen. Listening to these amazing poets read their work always makes me smile.
* Also, all three workshops I attended were excellent.
– Anna Yin’s Poetry Alive presentation was wonderful. She posted a group photo of our class on her website.
– Carolyn Adams’ Postcard Poems session combined two of the things I love most– snail mail and poetry. Thanks to her, I plan on participating in this year’s August Postcard Poetry Fest.
– When is the last time you found yourself wishing a workshop could be longer? That’s how I felt in “The New Face of Fairy Tales” with Pamela Laskin. I left her hour-long class with one complete poem draft and a lot of ideas for more.
* * *
Carie Juettner 
I really like that poem.
Thank you very much! 🙂
I love your poem! Congrats on getting it in the anthology. 🙂 And it looks like you had a blast; wish I could’ve been there. Maybe next year!
Thanks! If you decide to come next year, I’ll happily be your AIPF tour guide. 🙂
Congratulations on your poem, Carie! The end of it totally reminds me of one I recently wrote. 🙂 I totally want to do the August Postcard Poetry Fest. That sounds awesome. It looks like you had so much fun at the festival and got a lot of inspiration. I’m glad you were finally able to get some sleep though!
Thanks! Now I want to read your poem to see how the endings connect. 🙂
Hi! This may seem like a belated comment, but I am an odd one 🙂 and this is the first time I’ve really looked back upon AIPF 2015! It’s so wonderful being reminded of the poetry buzz I felt when I met other poets, saw Nikki Giovanni, and attended part of Midnight-Dawn close to a year ago. I don’t think I met you, but I was there (I’m sitting next to Thom Worldpoet in one of your photos from the Midnight-to-Dawn Poetry Reading, after having read my one sonnet). As I reflect on my time at AIPF, I am wanting to invoke some small essence of that event where I live, in Iowa. I didn’t take any photos but I’m glad you and other people did. 🙂 The experience is still nestled in my heart. And, I hope to return for another poetry festival some year!
I’m so glad you commented on this old post! It’s nice to meet you, belatedly. I’m glad you had such a good experience in our city. wish our paths had crossed at the festival, but maybe someday. I’m not attending this year– just too many other things on my plate– but if you ever head back to Austin for a literary event, let me know. 🙂
Will do!