The Salish Sea Poetry Festival

The Salish Sea Poetry Festival brings poetry to Bellingham, Washington's street corners, neighborhoods, and local businesses, culminating in a weekend long festival every November. Throughout the year, rain or shine, we offer poetry crawls, holiday events, and other ways to meet new poems and people.

Visit our News and Events page to see what's upcoming.

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View current or past newsletters here: Salish Sea Poetry Newsletters.

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We're dedicated to ensuring that poetry plays a central role in fostering community, enlivening our public spaces, and engaging our collective imagination.​

Three​ or four times a year, something magical happens in Bellingham. Part brewery crawl, part poetry reading, these Poetry events put poetry back where it's supposed to be: in our neighborhoods, local businesses, and street corners. Organized by the Salish Sea Poetry Festival, they offer a taste of the annual festival held each November.

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Join our "word herd" as we move between breweries, cafes, and other community areas. At each of the pop-up's three or four stops, learn how one Pacific Northwest poetry group--such as a literary journal, writer's group, or reading series--can offer resources and community to writers, readers, families, and the literarily-intrigued. Poets associated with the group will then use the bulk of the time to wow us with live readings. Grab a drink or snack, discuss the poems, meet new friends, and then follow us along to the next stop!

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If you'd like to be part of our pop-ups as a volunteer, local business, or poetry group, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact the Salish Sea Poetry Festival to get involved.

Based in Bellingham, Washington, we serve poets, poetry-lovers, and the poetry-curious!​