The State College Poetry Fest is slated for Saturday, February 11, at 3 Dots Downtown. The event, organized by Penn State students Meera Gupta and Emily Hashem, will begin at 1 p.m. and run until 5 p.m.

Attendees can bond over their shared love for poetry through slam poetry, live performances, and a book raffle.

Poetry Fest is inspired by Poetry Pals, a writing organization focused on peer-reviewing and writing poetry at 3 Dots. The group meets at 2 p.m. every Saturday.

“We wanted to celebrate our local literary community and share the power of poetry with our broader State College community,” Poetry Fest wrote on Instagram.

The event will include a variety of activities, including a “Zine” creation. Short for “magazine,” zines include written words, pictures, and art that are collaged together.

Writers Organized to Represent Diverse Stories (WORDS) will attend the event for live slam poetry performances. Other literary organizations, including Poetry Pals, Kalliope, and Ridgelines will be in attendance.

The Poetry Fest 2023 Lineup:

1 p.m. — Attendees can browse booths and activities set up by the Schlow Library, Penn State literary clubs, and the Penn State Makerspace.

2 p.m. — Ridglines Language Arts, an organization based on serving language arts instruction in creative writing and poetry to underrepresented communities, will perform its community poem.

2:30 p.m. — Listen to and/or perform poetry. Writers from WORDS will share their work, and you can sign up to share your own poetry here.

4 p.m. — An open mic will be held for poets interested in sharing their work.

4:45 p.m. — Hear from the event contributors at this time. Book raffle winners will also be announced.