Tuesday, April 28, 2026
7:30 p.m. ET | Virtual
Free and open to all. Registration required for virtual program access.
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join the producers circle
This signature reading, fundraiser, and closing celebration of National Poetry Month features leading and legendary actors, artists, dancers, musicians, chefs, and other notable public figures sharing poems with viewers from small towns and big cities throughout the United States and countries around the world.
Hosted by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Tracy K. Smith, the event will feature Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao; journalist, author, and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver; Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Louise Erdrich; stage and screen actor John Rothman; actor and author Nick Offerman; National Youth Poet Laureate Evan Wang; and interdisciplinary artist Coco Fusco. Additional readers will be announced.
2026 Leadership Award Honorees:
The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze
Donations support K-12 poetry education
Contributors to the event provide much-needed funds to help underwrite our educational programs and enable us to invite viewers from around the world to join us for an uplifting reading of poems during this unifying global event. Give an additional gift today to support Poetry & the Creative Mind, poetry's biggest night in, and National Poetry Month.
Your donation will automatically register you for Poetry & the Creative Mind 2026.