Poetry Voices Unite in the 13th Biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival
LA CONNER, WA
Skagit River Poetry Festival 2026
The 13th Biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival brings together a vibrant community of poets and poetry enthusiasts. This renowned event, hosted in La Conner, WA, showcases a diverse range of voices, celebrating the power and beauty of poetry. During the festival, attendees will experience performances, readings, workshops, and discussions led by acclaimed poets, fostering a spirit of unity and creativity. The gathering serves as a testament to the enduring impact of poetry, inviting participants to engage, reflect, and connect through language.
This year brings a world of fresh, provocative voices to the 13th Biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival, October 22-24, 2026, in the historic town of La Conner, WA. The celebrated three-day event with performances, readings, workshops, and discussions, features some of the most renowned and diverse names in poetry, including the critically acclaimed Naomi Shihab Nye, who is an award winning Palestinian-American Poet, Essayist and Educator.
The festival opens Thursday evening with “A Council of Women: A Reading with Tess Gallagher, Danusha Lemaris and Naomi Shihab Nye.” Over the three days, the festival presents some of the most thoughtful voices in contemporary poetry, reflecting cultures from around the world. Among the twenty-seven featured poets are Ching-In Chen, Gary Lilly Copeland, Joe Wilkins, Derek Sheffield, Jane Wong, and all the teaching poets who work in the schools, Samar Abulhassan, Subhaga Crystal Bacon, Janée J. Baugher, Sati Mookherjee, Jeffrey Morgan, Lorraine Healy, Caitlin Scarano, and Jeremy Voigt.
The biennial festival takes place in venues throughout La Conner, WA, which is transformed into a Poet Village for three days. “The festival turns La Conner into a town filled with poetry, from its churches to its museums, its community center, and its bed and breakfasts,” says featured festival poet from Seattle Susan Rich. “Where else can a person sleep, eat, live, and breathe poetry for a fall weekend?”
The festival, one of the largest celebrations of poetry on the West Coast, is put on by the Skagit River Poetry Foundation, a non-profit organization that brings poets into school classrooms year-round to promote literacy, an appreciation of language, and youth participation in culturally diverse communities. All proceeds benefit the foundation’s mission.
Tickets are available at https://www.skagitriverpoetry.org/festival/festival-tickets/ All students attend free with a student ID and unless sold out, tickets will also be available at the door each day.
For more information, visit the festival website at www.skagitriverpoetry.org/festival-2026, email info@skagitriverpoetry.org or Molly McNulty, Executive Director at directorsrpp@gmail.com
