The Parkmont Poetry Festival encourages and celebrates the voices and verse of student poets from public, private, and charter schools from all eight wards of the District of Columbia. We honor the promise of diverse young writers, the importance of reflection, the value of community, and the beauty of language.

Founded in 1982 by Ron McClain and Judy Lentz of Parkmont School in Washington, D.C., the Parkmont Poetry Festival grew out of a vision of encouraging Washington youth to write and showcase their often-submerged talents in poetry. Each year, students in grades 6-12 from public, private, and charter schools in the District of Columbia are invited to submit up to two original poems to the Festival. Three judges (who are locally and nationally respected poets) select semi-finalists, and then the winners: 20 middle school poets and 20 high school poets.

The winning poems are published annually in a booklet, and the winning poets come together on a Saturday in April to read their poems aloud at the Festival Reading, which will be held at a location in Northwest Washington, DC.

The Parkmont Poetry Festival has hosted over 1,600 winners, and has encouraged over 16,000 students across Washington to submit poems. Each year, we have more schools involved and the enthusiasm over the Festival builds.

Judges for the Parkmont Poetry Festival have included such national notables as Lucille Clifton, Carolyn Forche and Nikki Giovanni. Local luminaries including E. Ethelbert Miller, Reuben Jackson, Anne Harding Woodworth, and Naomi Ayala have also been judges for the Festival.

Festival Coordinator and English Teacher, Kim Schraf, says of the festival, “In a world of texting and tweeting, we at Parkmont welcome the opportunity to honor the importance of reflection and the beauty of words.”

The Festival has been an important model of collaboration between public, private and public charter schools because it promotes respect between people of different communities. The Festival inspires participants and fosters self-expression and self-esteem by recognizing and celebrating the finalists and by publishing their work.