The Parkmont Poetry Festival

We are thrilled to announce that Alexa Patrick is the Finalist Judge for the 2026 Parkmont Poetry Festival. Alexa is a vocalist and poet from Connecticut. She is the author of Remedies for Disappearing (Haymarket Books, 2023) and holds fellowships from Cave Canem, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and more. Previous artistic partnerships of Alexa’s include Meta, Microsoft, The Kennedy Center, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. In spring 2023, Alexa made her stage production debut as Un/Sung in the opera We Shall Not Be Moved, (dire. Bill T. Jones). You may find her work in publications including Adroit, The Rumpus, CRWN Magazine, and The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2.
Thank you, Alexa, for joining the roster of distinguished poets who inspire D.C.'s young writers through the Parkmont Poetry Festival! The 44th annual Parkmont Poetry Festival will culminate in a celebration and reading that is open to the public on May 2. For more details, check out our website, parkmontpoetry.org.

Born in Puerto Rico, Tatiana Figueroa Ramírez has received fellowships from VONA Voices and Anaphora Arts, having worked with Willie Perdomo and Danez Smith. Tatiana currently performs, facilitates workshops, and hosts events in the DC area, having previously done so across the United States and the Dominican Republic at venues including The Kennedy Center and New York University. Her work has been featured in MSNBC’s “Leguizamo Does America” and The Acentos Review, among other publications. Tatiana is the author of Coconut Curls y Café con Leche (2019), Despojo (2020), and Exhume (forthcoming).
Tatiana and fellow Semifinalist Judge Sean Felix have just begun reading the poems submitted to the Parkmont Poetry Festival. From those hundreds of works, they will select 40 by middle school students and 40 by high school students to move on to the final round of the Festival. Thank you to both Tatiana and Sean! We are very lucky to have such gifted artists support D.C.'s young authors! Now in its 44th year, the Parkmont Poetry Festival is open to all middle and high school students who attend school in Washington D.C. The Festival will culminate in a celebration and reading on May 2.

We are delighted to announce the judges for the 2026 Parkmont Poetry Festival! First up is returning Semifinalist Judge Sean Felix. Sean is a citizen poet from Washington, D.C. He has performed his long-form poetry with the John Howard Jazz Trio and read with The Inner Loop and at the 804 Salon. He is also an award-winning and avid haiku poet, and has published his long-form poetry with Broken Spine, Humana Obscura, the Mid-Atlantic Review, Washington Writers Publishing House, and other literary journals. He was a semifinalist judge for the Parkmont Poetry contest last year and believes it is one of the best poetry contests in the world for aspiring school-age poets. We are thrilled that Sean is back for his second year with the Festival! Thank you, Sean!

The judges are ready; the deadline is nigh. D.C. middle and high school poets, this is your moment! Submit your work by this FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 to be included in the 2026 Parkmont Poetry Festival.
Now in its 44th year, the Parkmont Poetry Festival is open to all middle and high school students at schools located in Washington, D.C. We're delighted to welcome our panel of accomplished poets who will judge this year’s Festival: Semifinalist Judges Sean Felix and Tatiana Figueroa Ramirez, and Finalist Judge Alexa Patrick. Sean and Tatiana will select 40 poems by middle school students and 40 by high school students as semifinalists. From those 80, Alexa will choose 20 poems from each group that will be published in the 2026 Festival booklet. Finalist authors will also be invited to read their work at the Festival’s closing celebration in May.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be spotlighting each of our Judges. Stay tuned!
To learn more about the Parkmont Poetry Festival and to submit your poems, go to parkmontpoetry.org.

Getting excited for the Parkmont Poetry Festival! Students in Nijole's Middle School English Class started getting into their poetry grooves this month, constructing poems out of word magnets. To learn more about the Festival, go to parkmontpoetry.org.

Getting excited for the Parkmont Poetry Festival! Students in Nijole's Middle School English Class started getting into their poetry grooves this month, constructing poems out of word magnets. To learn more about the Festival, go to parkmontpoetry.org.

Maya Ruben read her poem "He Swears He Saw an Angel" recently at The Hour: Poetry Open Mic at the Union Market Politics & Prose! Her beautiful poem was a winner in the 2025 Parkmont Poetry Festival. Now in 9th grade at Sidwell Friends School, Maya also had a winning poem in the 2024 Festival.
You can read Maya's poems on our website, parkmontpoetry.org. And check the calendar at Politics & Prose for upcoming poetry open mics! D.C. poet and assistant coordinator for the Parkmont Poetry Festival María Fernanda launched The Hour this past summer to give local artists a welcoming space for sharing their work.

Parkmont Poetry Festival Summer Programming is featured in Passing Notes, Parkmont School's community newsletter! Check it out:
https://parkmont.org/connect-with-us/passing-notes-newsletter/

Catch TONIGHT'S jazz performance and poetry reading at Takoma Rec Center. This evening's event is the last night of the summer when you can catch a reading by a winner of the Parkmont Poetry Festival backed by live jazz. We'll see you there!

Join us tomorrow on the green at the Shepherd Park Community Center to see Nick Marino, a rising 10th grader and 2025 Parkmont Poetry Festival winner, read his winning poem backed by live jazz.

Congratulations to the 40 winning poets of the 2025 Parkmont Poetry Festival! The 43rd annual Festival culminated in a reading and joyous celebration this weekend where young poets from across Washington, D.C., read their work and roused our spirits. Kim Schraf, our indomitable Festival leader, introduced the readers and shared what she loved about each of their poems. Our finalist judge, poet Michael Gushue, reminded all of us that "poetry is light."
Special thanks to Zion Baptist Church!

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