Event Proposals for NOPF 2025 will open on October 1, 2024, and close on December 15, 2024. Notifications will be sent on January 30, 2025.

There are four types of events:

Readings: A group of poets presents their poetry, often organized by poetics, press, theme, or otherwise. For example, a press might propose a reading of recent releases. This often pairs well with a table at the small press fair. Other poets might focus on a specific theme like ecopoetics, social justice, translation, global poetics, sound, visual arts, queer poetics, film, experimental poetry, anthologies, organizations, etc. Readings are 50 minutes.

Roundtables: Poets and scholars lead a presentation or discussion on a theme relevant to poetry. Like the readings, some themes may include ecology, nature, magic, the occult, social issues, gender, sexuality, race, representation, translation, mythology, folklore, experimental forms, hybrid forms, etc. Roundtables are 50 minutes.

Workshops: One or more facilitators lead a hands-on, generative writing session, focusing on creating new work rather than critiquing existing pieces. Workshops sessions can be 50 minutes or 1 hour and 50 minutes. Workshops may also venture outdoors as long they begin in the New Orleans Healing Center. 

Virtual Events: For those unable to attend in person, we invite participants to submit virtual event proposals for 2025. Virtual event slots are limited and reserved for remote participants only. They will be held over Zoom from Monday, April 6, 2025, through Thursday, April 10.

Note: If your event proposal is experimental/avant-garde and doesn’t seem to fit neatly into these categories, submit it under "Reading," which could also be considered “Performance.”

How to Propose

Assemble Your Group: For Readings and Roundtables, ensure you have at least four participants. For Workshops, one or more participants is acceptable (more may improve your proposal's ranking).

Register Participants: Ensure all participants are registered on the website. If you’ve participated in NOPF before, you are already registered; reset your login details if necessary.

Verify Registration: Confirm that all participants are registered. Unregistered participants cannot be included in proposals.

Prepare Proposal: Do not include participant bios in the proposal body. Participants can join a maximum of two events. If a participant is included in the Road Show, Locals Night, International Night, or Main Event, this does not count toward their two-event maximum.

Note: We provide a single microphone and PA per event; any additional technical needs must be requested in advance. As a DIY festival, you are responsible for timing and managing your reading, roundtable, or workshop. Some events may be filmed and posted to our YouTube channel. However, we do not have the capacity to film or livestream all events.

You can check the status of your proposals here.

SUBMIT EVENT PROPOSAL

Small Press Fair

In the Main Hall of the New Orleans Healing Center, the Small Press Fair runs from 9 AM to 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday, with doors opening at 8 AM for exhibitor setup. The Fair features small press publishers, authors, and others displaying their work.

 

PURCHASE TABLE

 

In 2024, the exhibitors included POETRY Magazine, The Georgia Review, Anhinga Press, Roof Books, Annulet, Nightboat Books, Chax Press, Sarabande Books, Lavender Ink/Diálogos, Unlikely Stories, Litwire, Gaudy Boy, VOLT, SCRAM, Tilted House, Fine Print Press, Riot in Your Throat, MadHat Press, FlowerSong Press, Luna Press, Factory Hollow Press, Sundress Publications, NOLAC, Ghost Proposal Press, Xavier Review, Tram Editions Press, Beautiful Days Press, Defunkt Press, Poets Dream LLC, Los Lorcas, Fertile Repository, Sublimity City, Belle Point Press, Rebel Satori Press, Antenna Press, One Book One New Orleans, mercury firs, titter titter tee hee, Carnalitx Mobile Bookstore, Women Poets, and Tubby & Coo's Traveling Book Shop.

 

Individual Reader Proposals

Individual poets may apply to perform at a Small Press Reading. Each poet will have 10 minutes to perform alongside 4 others. Poets who performed at a Small Press Reading, Road Show, Locals Night, International Night, or Main Event during NOPF 2023 or 2024 are ineligible. Individual reader proposals will open January 31, 2025 and close on February 14, 2025. Poets will be notified by March 1, 2025. In 2024, we accepted 20 out of 45 individual reader proposals, which lead to four 50-minute Small Press Readings during the festival.

INDIVIDUAL READER PROPOSALS OPEN JANUARY 31, 2025