The Emily Dickinson Museum is now accepting proposals for the tenth annual Tell It Slant Poetry Festival, held September 19-25, 2022!

Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, with support from the Beveridge Family Foundation and Mass Cultural Council, the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival celebrates the poetic legacy of Emily Dickinson and the contemporary creativity of the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

The Festival’s name “Tell It Slant” (new in 2020), was selected in homage to Dickinson’s poem, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” This title underscores the revolutionary power of poetry to shift our perspective and reveal new truths. The Tell It Slant Poetry Festival remains committed to featuring and serving established and emerging poets who represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary American poetry scene, and to fostering community by placing poetry in the public sphere. To see our 2021 Festival schedule click here.

The 2022 Festival returns to the Emily Dickinson Museum with a combination of in-person and virtual programs. We invite you to “dwell in possibility” and submit your most inventive proposals for audience-centered performances, workshops, panel discussions, and programs.

The Steering Committee especially welcomes the following:

• Submissions from groups of 2 – 5 facilitators
• Submissions that engage young attendees and those new to poetry
• Submissions that creatively encourage audience participation or that foster a sense of community

Honoraria are provided per event. 

Proposals should be designed for one of the following program types to be scheduled September 19-25 (You may submit separate forms if proposing more than one program):

IN-PERSON GENERAL AUDIENCE PROGRAMS:

• Poetry workshops, panels, or other participatory programs open to the public. Event sessions are typically 60- to 90-minutes long. 
• $250 honoraria offered per event.

IN-PERSON GENERAL AUDIENCE PERFORMANCES:

• Music, theater, dance, or other performance open to the public. Submissions should be for 60- to 90-minute programs.
• A $500 honorarium is offered for this program. 

VIRTUAL PROGRAMS:

• Poetry workshops, panels, or participatory programs open to the public and hosted on the Festival’s remote conferencing platform. Virtual programs must be designed for a minimum of 50. Proposals may also be designed for an unlimited number of Festival registrants. 
• $250 honoraria offered per event.

HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOPS (to be held in person and scheduled during the school day between Monday, September 19th and Friday, September 23rd):

• Private poetry workshops for classes of high school age students (grades 9-12). Submissions should be for 45-minute sessions offered up to four times between 7:50am and 3pm EST. Partner schools will be shared with selected poets and will include schools in Hampshire and Hampden counties.
• A $350 honorarium is offered for the day’s workshops.

Submission Guidelines:

• Only submissions made in the online form will be considered. There is no fee to submit proposals.
• To complete your submission, please upload the following to this Dropbox folder:
  • The resumes/CVs of all presenters.
  • If appropriate, up to 3 sample poems per group member.
  • Any desired links, audio, or video files of performances or facilitation. 
  • High resolution headshots of all presenters. 
• All your materials as listed above should be titled by your PROGRAM TITLE. You may upload materials as one zipped file or individually. We can accept .pdf, .doc, .doc(x) files. If applicable, you may upload images in .png, .jpg, or .gif form and audio files in .mp3, .aac, or .wav form.
• Selected facilitators will be notified by the end of July and will be asked to sign a letter of agreement confirming their participation in the Festival.
• Submissions Due: Sunday, July 17 at 11:59PM, EST.

Submissions will be judged on the following:

• Originality – Is your idea bold and intriguing? Will it offer something new to our Festival?
• Quality – Does the submission reflect thoughtful preparation? How are you uniquely qualified to facilitate this program?
• Audience – Have you clearly outlined participatory elements? How does your proposal contribute to community-building for the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival? 
• Special consideration will be given to Pioneer Valley and Massachusetts-based facilitators.

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

Questions? Email us at edmprograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org