Poetry

Each year, the Folger celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday with a free and family-friendly event featuring contemporary poets reading historic speeches from Dr. King and others. Check back here in the weeks ahead for our 2026 lineup.

The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize is awarded annually for a poetry collection by a writer who has published no more than one book of poetry. This April, we celebrate the 20th winner, Anna Lena Phillips Bell, for her manuscript Might Could, as selected by judge Shane McCrae, who will also read.

The Poetry season concludes with a finale reading by a poet chosen by a group of Folger Poetry supporters. The evening’s honored guest will read from the work of other poets cited as their literary influences as well as from their own work.