Poets in the Park

Michael Dylan Welch started the Poets in the Park conference in 2004, and the first two conferences were held at Marymoor Park’s Clise Mansion in Redmond, Washington, with the Redmond Association of Spokenword as a sponsor. These well-attended two-day events took place in April of 2004 and March of 2005. Guest poets included Wanda Coleman, Sam Hamill, Madeline DeFrees, Sheila Bender, and other prominent poets. The 2014 revival of this event took place at Redmond’s Anderson Park, cosponsored by the City of Redmond and the Redmond Association of Spokenword, as more of a social and poetry reading/performance festival, with fewer workshops. Poets brought blankets and picnic lunches to enjoy on the park lawns while enjoying free ice cream, exhibits, mini golf, poetry installations, workshops, and a book fair, as well as listening to and reading poetry.