Reading

Each year NOPF hosts a second line with jazz funeral to remember great poets and friends of the fest who have passed during the previous year. This year we are honoring the internationally renowned poet, translator and editor Pierre Joris, who performed in the very first NOPF and in many years since, and New Orleans poet, teacher and mentor Jerry Ward, who also has been at almost every NOPF. Please gather at Siberia after the open mic on Friday. We will promenade, led by the Breathe In Brass Out brass band, down the few short blocks to the Healing Center and the International night show.

This year, we'll be offering a four-hour open mic filled with lots of great local, national, and international poets. Jonathan Penton and Lisa Pasold will MC this very special event.

All open mic slots are currently reserved, but there's bound to be some people who have to drop out, so bring your own poems when you come by!

As part of Louisiana State Poet Laureate, Alison Pelegrin’s Lifelines Poetry Project and in partnership with the New Orleans Poetry Festival, Louisiana State Penitentiary—commonly known as Angola—opens its gates to poetry in an unprecedented event of artistic expression and solidarity. This landmark performance brings together renowned poets to transform a space long defined by confinement into one of creativity and shared humanity. This represents a bold step forward in recognizing the role of art in healing, rehabilitation, and social change.

The New Orleans Poetry Festival expands uptown for an early-bird special "lecture musicale" featuring French poet Virginie Poitrasson and French musician Joce Mienniel. Sponsored by the French and Italian Department and the Kathryn B. Gore Chair in French at Tulane University, and in partnership with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane and the Division of the Arts, this event features an hour-long performance followed by a brief Q&A.

The New Orleans Poetry Festival takes the show on the road to Thibodaux in 2025. In partnership with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane & the Division of the Arts, and Nicholls State University, this bilingual French/English event features French performers Virginie Poitrasson, Frédéric Forte, Michelle Noteboom and Joce Mienniel along with poet Lisa Pasold from Montréal and two Louisiana poets, David Middleton and Jace Brittain. After a performance of their work, these poets will hold a brief Q&A.

The NOPF Roadshow kicks off this year's festival on the road at Cavalier Books in Lafayette, LA. In partnership with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane, the Division of the Arts, and Cavalier Books, this event features French poets Virginie Poitrasson and Frédéric Forte and French-American poet Michelle Noteboom. These poets will perform their work in French and English, and take part in a brief Q&A.

The Louisiana French word lagniappe means “a little something extra.” In New Orleans, lagniappe is a gesture of generosity—a small bonus given freely, whether an extra shucked oyster, a long pour, or an unexpected kindness from a neighbor. This spirit of abundance and reciprocity resonates where poetry is not just a genre but a living practice embedded in community, resistance, and cultural exchange. These Lagniappe Readings celebrate this ethos, offering a space where five poets perform their work.

The Louisiana French word lagniappe means “a little something extra.” In New Orleans, lagniappe is a gesture of generosity—a small bonus given freely, whether an extra shucked oyster, a long pour, or an unexpected kindness from a neighbor. This spirit of abundance and reciprocity resonates where poetry is not just a genre but a living practice embedded in community, resistance, and cultural exchange. These Lagniappe Readings celebrate this ethos, offering a space where five poets perform their work.

The Louisiana French word lagniappe means “a little something extra.” In New Orleans, lagniappe is a gesture of generosity—a small bonus given freely, whether an extra shucked oyster, a long pour, or an unexpected kindness from a neighbor. This spirit of abundance and reciprocity resonates where poetry is not just a genre but a living practice embedded in community, resistance, and cultural exchange. These Lagniappe Readings celebrate this ethos, offering a space where five poets perform their work.

The Louisiana French word lagniappe means “a little something extra.” In New Orleans, lagniappe is a gesture of generosity—a small bonus given freely, whether an extra shucked oyster, a long pour, or an unexpected kindness from a neighbor. This spirit of abundance and reciprocity resonates where poetry is not just a genre but a living practice embedded in community, resistance, and cultural exchange. These Lagniappe Readings celebrate this ethos, offering a space where five poets perform their work.