Beall Poetry Festival
Baylor University’s Beall Poetry Festival is a three-day celebration of contemporary poetry, with poetry readings, a panel discussion, and the Virginia Beall Ball Lecture on Contemporary Poetry. The festival is supported by the John A. and DeLouise McClelland Beall Endowed Fund, established in 1994 by Mrs. Virginia B. Ball to honor her parents and to encourage the writing and appreciation of poetry.
28th Annual Festival
March 30-April 1, 2022
Full Schedule2022 Participants
Vievee Francis
Born in West Texas, Vievee Francis earned a B.A. from Fisk University and an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan
Todd Hearon
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Todd Hearon earned a B.A. in English from Baylor University before going on to earn an M.A. in Irish studies from Boston College and a Ph.D. in editorial studies from Boston University.
Ilya Kaminsky
Ilya Kaminsky was born in Odessa, in the former Soviet Union, and arrived in the United States as a teenager when his family was granted asylum by the American government.
Chad Bennett
Chad Bennett earned a B.A. in English from Stanford University, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and a Ph.D. in English from Cornell University.
Visiting Poet
Lisa Russ Spaar
Lisa Russ Spaar serves as Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia. During one-week visits to the Baylor campus each fall semester, she meets with Baylor students in both classroom and informal settings to encourage their interest and achievement in the writing and appreciation of poetry.