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Beall Poetry Festival
  • About
    • Full Schedule
  • Broadsides
  • Current Participants
    • Vievee Francis
    • Todd Hearon
    • Ilya Kaminsky
    • Chad Bennett
    • Lisa Russ Spaar
  • Previous Participants
  • Student Literary Contest
    • Prizes

Beall Poetry Festival

Beall Poetry Festival logo

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.​

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28th Annual Festival

March 30-April 1, 2022

Full Schedule

2022 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

Learn More About Vievee Francis
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.

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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.

Learn More About Ilya Kaminsky
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. 

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Visiting Poet

Lisa Russ Spaar

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.

Read More about Lisa Russ Spaar

Past Participants
Student Literary Contest
Broadsides
History

Baylor Poetry Festival

Baylor University Department of English
One Bear Place #97404
Waco, TX 76798-7404
(254) 710-1768
beallpoetry@baylor.edu
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