Our History
In 1964, Dr. Samuel Hazo invited W.H. Auden to offer a poetry reading in Pittsburgh, PA. In his introductory speech, Hazo envisioned a reading series that would bring the world’s best poets to Pittsburgh—particularly poets who emphasized poetry as a spoken art form. Present in the audience was Theodore L. Hazlett Jr., then head of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. After Auden’s reading, Hazlett approached Hazo to make his vision a reality.
In 1966, the International Poetry Forum launched under the initial sponsorship of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Mellon Trust. The inaugural reading featured Archibald MacLeish at the Carnegie Lecture Hall on Oct. 19, 1966.
The nonprofit organization soon grew to become one of the most celebrated independent poetry programs in the world, hosting over 800 poets, actors, musicians, and artists from more that 50 countries to offer poetry readings and educational programs in Pittsburgh. Alumni of the International Poetry Forum include nine Nobel Laureates, 14 Academy Award recipients, 28 U.S. Poets Laureate, 39 National Book Award winners, and 47 Pulitzer Prize winners.
For a period of ten years, the Forum also hosted a series of joint Pittsburgh-D.C. events at Wolf Trap National Park and the Smithsonian Institution as a member of the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program. In 1990, the Smithsonian awarded the Forum the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal, making it the only literary organization in the country to ever receive that honor.
After 43 years of leadership, Samuel Hazo retired from the International Poetry Forum, placing the nonprofit on indefinite hiatus in 2009. In 2023, Hazo announced the revival of the Forum, naming new leadership for the 501(c)(3) organization in advance of a relaunch of the Forum’s flagship reading series, educational programs, and online resources in 2024.
Audio recordings of past performers—including legends such as Seamus Heaney, Gwendolyn Brooks, Octavio Paz, Elizabeth Bishop, Jorge Luis Borges, Mary Oliver, Kurt Vonnegut, Chinua Achebe, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck, James Earl Jones, Ruby Dee, Anthony Hopkins, James Earl Jones, and Queen Noor of Jordan—are archived through the digital collections of Carlow University.
Our Team
Jake Grefenstette, Ph.D.
President & Executive Director
Growing up in Pittsburgh, Jake Grefenstette’s love of literature was shaped by a generation of educators who benefited from the International Poetry Forum’s outreach programs. In 2023, Samuel Hazo appointed Grefenstette to succeed him as the second executive director of the International Poetry Forum.
Following undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Oxford, Grefenstette received an an M.Phil. from Peking University in Beijing, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
In addition to his work at the International Poetry Forum, Grefenstette teaches at Carnegie Mellon University, where he serves as poetry editor of CMU Press. He previously instructed undergraduates at Saint Vincent College and the University of Cambridge, where he is Senior Non-Resident Member of King’s College. Grefenstette has also published and worked on film, including a “Special Thanks” credit on the extended cut of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life.
Samuel Hazo, Ph.D.
Founder & Director Emeritus
Samuel John Hazo was born in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1928. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1957 and founded the International Poetry Forum in 1966. Hazo served as the first Poet Laureate of Pennsylvania (1993-2003) and is now McAnulty Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Duquesne University.
Dr. Hazo is the author of nearly sixty books, including the recent volume, The Less Said, the Truer: New and Selected Poems, 2016–2022 (Syracuse University Press). A National Book Award finalist (1973), Hazo’s many accolades include the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service (2024) and twelve honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.
Board of Directors & Officers
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John "Jake" Grefenstette, Ph.D.
PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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Mike Aquilina
CHAIR
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Janine Molinaro, Ph.D.
VICE-CHAIR
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David M. Belczyk
TREASURER
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Kathy Humphrey, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR
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Sridhar Tayur, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR
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Tricia O'Reilly
DIRECTOR
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Noland J. Cheung
DIRECTOR
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Irina Peris
DIRECTOR
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Samuel J. Hazo, Ph.D.
FOUNDER, DIRECTOR EMERITUS
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Daniel McTiernan
SECRETARY, NON-DIRECTOR
Past Directors & Honorary Directors
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Nouha Alhegelan
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Gregg Behr
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Jack Bogut
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James B. Burnham
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David Conrad
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Simin Curtis
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John Doherty
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Thomas J. Donnelly
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George T. Farrell
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Sr. Grace Ann Geibel
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Robert E. Grote
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Jane Hirshfield
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James Earl Jones
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Tasso Katselas
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John N. Kyle
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Albert C. Labriola
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James Laughlin
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William E. Markus
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Chryss O'Reilly
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Gregory Peck
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John Rago
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Scott Sander
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Hon. Adolph W. Schmidt
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Jo-Ann Sipple
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Louis Vitti
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Eli Wallach
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Richard Wilbur
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Sr. Linda Yankoski
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H.S.H. Princess Grace of Monaco
Advisory Council
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Clare Ansberry-Smith
Cameron Barnett
Tess Barry
Joan E. Bauer
Jon Bindley
Amy Bowman-McElhone
Louis Boyle
Sarah Ceurvorst
Kristofer Collins
Jim Daniels
Robert Bernard Hass
Robert Hoover
Jamillia Kamara Covington
Kristen Kelly
Sigrid King
Karen S. Kingsbury
Don Maue
Daniel R. McTiernan
Gayle Rogers
Anjali Sachdeva
Diane Samuels
Fred Shaw
Ed Simon
Matt Smith
Michael A. Smith
Eileen Stewart
Seth Strickland
Christine Stroud
Sony Ton-Aime
Steven Toussaint
Scott Tuffiash
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Gloria Acklin
Dr. Donald Adam
Sr. M. Aquinas
Janice Auth
Roger Babusci
Joanne Bailey
Dr. Frances J. Barnes
Hon. Francis A. Barry
Marilyn Bates
Philip E. Beard
Gregg Behr
Arthur Bergholz
Dr. Paula R. Bern
Robert M. Bernardini
Most Rev. Anthony J. Bevilacqua
Dr. JoAnn Bevilacqua Weiss
Barbara Beyer
James Beymer
Marvin H. Black
Claire Bloom CBE
Mabel G. Bookert
Charles Bookert
Most Rev. Anthony G. Bosco
Martha Bosley
John J. Bosley, Jr.
Dr. Doreen Boyce
Hon. Hugh C. Boyle
Louis Boyle
David D. Britton
Carol Brown
Edwin Brueggman
Dr. Frank Bruns
Elaine Bryan
Anne Burnham
Herbert F. Byrne
Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri
Virgil Cantini
Tito Capobianco
Pat Carroll
Dr. T.E. Cartwright
Rosemary Casey
Anna Catone
Nanette Chapman
Joan Chelemer
Michael D. Cheteyan
Shirley Chiesa
Dr. John A. Clair
Rev. Hugh Clark
Annabelle Clippinger
Jane Coleman
Dr. Lynn Conroy
Harold Corsini
Gerald Costanzo
Arthur Cowles
Congressman William J. Coyne
John G. Craig
George L. Craig, Jr.
Doris Crozier
James Cvetic
Dr. Richard M. Cyert
Irma D'Ascenza
John Dankworth
Jay Dantry
Donnis DeCamp
Patricia Dillman
Keith Doms
John F. Donahue
Thomas J. Donnelly
Marilyn Donnelly
Carol B. Dyas
Arthur Eastman
Frederick N. Egler
Ruth Egler
Dr. Frances Eldredge
James Elkus
A. Ralph Ellis
Peter Fabian
Leon A. Falk
Dr. Arthur H. Fedel
Sr. Marylouise Fennell
Rina Ferrarelli
Janet Ferrell
Senator D. Michael Fisher
Brendan Fitzgerald
Commissioner Pete Flaherty
Charles M. Fletcher
Nicholas G. Flocos
Commissioner Tom Foerster
John Frazier
Alter C. Friedman
Janice Friedman
DeLos Peyton Fulwylie, Sr.
Robert B. Funkhouser
Earl L. Gadbery
Norbert S. Garbisch, Jr.
Hazel Garland
Kathleen George
Gail Ghai
Hugh Gilmour
Charles R. Goetz
G.S. Goldfield
Lois Grose
Nancy Grote
Joseph & Christine Gurski
William P. Hackney
Commissioner Barbara Hafer
Rt. Rev. Alden M. Hathaway
Sara Henderson Hay
Mary Hazard
Susan I. Hazlett
Theodore L. Hazlett, Jr.
Mary Anne Hazo
Sr. Kathleen Healy
Drue Heinz
Senator John Heinz
Robert I. Hendel
Frederick A. Hetzel
Dr. Dorothy Hill
Rick Horton
Nan Huested
Marilyn Hufstader
Jacqueline Hughes
Todd Hunt, Jr.
Hon. K. Leroy Irvis
Rabbi Walter Jacob
Janet Jacobs
John Johns
Pamela Johnson
W. Augustus Jones
James Earl Jones
James A. Jordon
Eileen Joyce
David Junker
Eugene M. Kail
Jane Katselas
Nymphe Kefal
Ann T. Kerr
William E. Kerr
Russell Kierzkowski
Beatrice King
Svetlana Kluge-Harris
John Knorr
Leslie Koeper
Jerzy Kosinski
Dr. John W. Kraft
J. Craig Kuhn, Esq.
Dorothy E. Kyle
John N. Kyle
Leonard L. Labriola
Cleo Laine
Walter Leuba
Aaron P. Levinson
William Libby
Marge Logsdon
Carla Lucente
Donna Lund
John Manear
Sidney Marland
Anthony Martin
Andrea Martine
Rev. Henry J. McAnulty
Most Rev. John B. McDowell
Barry McGurk
Leslie Anne Mcilroy
Prof. William P. McShea
Paul Mellon
Bernard Meredith
Helen R. Meurer
Gregor F. Meyer
Natalie Meyers
John H. Miller
William E. Mooney
Charles H. Moore
Geraldine Morgan
Thomas Murphy
Rev. Donald S. Nesti
Anne New
Br. Jerome Niland
Jeff O'Brien
Manning O'Connor II
Dr. A. J. F. O'Reilly
Ed Ochester
Dr. David Or
Barbara D. Palmer
Charles W. Parry
Christine Pasinski
Anne K. Patton
Alfred Pelaez
Robert Petraglia
Anthony Petrosky
Patricia Petrosky
Anne Picone
John A. Pidgeon
Victoria Polinko
Dr. Wesley W. Posvar
Jean Purvis
Robert P. Randall
Rita Randall
Don Riggs
Jack Riley
Grace Rishell
Christine Ann Romanus
Daniel M. Rooney
Jamie Rooney
Patricia Rooney
Pat Rooney
Diana Rose
Thomas Ross
Jerrold Rouby
Scott Sander
Dr. Jane Scarborough
Hon. Adolph W. Schmidt
Gladys Schmitt
Kurt C. Schreiber
Dalia Scioscia
Karen Segas
Charles L. Sewell
John A. Shaffer
Michael Simms
Jane Smith
Marj Palmer Smuts
Janet W. Solinger
Ceci Sommers
Nancy Sprague
Cecile M. Springer
Dr. Rebecca Stafford
Agnes Lynch Starrett
Ernest Stefanik
Dean Erwin R. Steinberg
Shirley Stevens
Arthur Stewart
Dr. Frank J. Suatoni, Jr.
Clarke M. Thomas
Dr. Jeffrey Thomson
Governor Dick Thornburgh
Jinny Thornburgh
Lorraine Husted Toth
Mary Ann Vallus
Alan Van Dine
Rev. Leo V. Vanyo
Dean Frank W. Wadsworth
Congressman Doug Walgren
James M. Walton
Richard Wells
Barbara Wells
Jerry Wenneker
Dr. Robert F. Whitman
Lois Wholey
Jeanne-Anne Widgery
Robert C. Wilburn
Teresa Wilson
Regis Wolff
Michael Wurster
Dr. Ellie Wymard
Sr. Rita Yeasted
Patricia Yoder
Dr. Frank Zbozny
Paul Zimmer
Christine Zoccole
*Note: The Advisory Council Emeriti list includes individuals from groups previously known as the Board of Associates, Friends of the Forum, and the Anniversary Committee. For a full list of individuals and institutions who have supported the International Poetry Forum since 1966, click here.