The Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen Birthday Tribute
2025-12-09 19:30 - 20:30 UTC | Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E Capital Street NE, Washington, DC, DC, 20002
The Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen Birthday Tribute
December 9, 2025, at 7:30pm
This year, our annual birthday tribute to American poet Emily Dickinson will also honor English novelist Jane Austen on her 250th birthday. Noted scholars Martha Nell Smith and Patricia A. Matthew will discuss the life, work, and legacy of Dickinson and Austen and how they continue to shape writers of today, highlighting well-known passages. The reading, which is co-sponsored by the Emily Dickinson Museum, will be followed by a book signing in the Great Hall. Emily Dickinson’s famous black cake, based on her own recipe, will also be served.

The 2026 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize Reading
2026-04-07 19:30 - 20:30
The 2026 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize Reading
April 7, 2026, at 7:30pm

The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize, created in honor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anthony Hecht, 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 (Pulling the Chariot of the Sun, In the Language of My Captor), who will also read. The reading will be followed by a book signing in the Great Hall.

The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series Finale Reading
2026-05-19 19:30 - 20:30
The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series Finale Reading
May 19, 2026, at 7:30pm

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. Previous poets invited for this finale reading include Ellen Bass, Billy Collins, Carolyn Forché, and Jane Hirshfield. The reading will be followed by a book signing in the Great Hall.
