Poets in Person

The International Poetry Forum’s Poets in Person outreach program began with a workshop by Gerald Barrax at Pittsburgh’s Westinghouse High School on September 28, 1966.

The initial vision for Poets in Person was shaped with assistance from Fred Rogers (of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fame) and members of the Junior League of Pittsburgh. Support for the initiative has come organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Grable Foundation, and many others.

Over the last sixty years, Poets in Person has existed in a variety of iterations, welcoming hundreds of local and visiting poets and educators to offer seminars and workshops at schools, libraries, and community spaces across Allegheny County. Participants have included legends like Fred Rogers, Samuel Pickering (the real-life inspiration for Dead Poets Society), Seamus Heaney, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Lowell, Martín Espada, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Terrance Hayes.

Today, the International Poetry Forum supports free school visits, workshops, lectures, and events facilitated by our executive director or visiting poets. The goal of our programs is to encourage a love of poetry in students and to educate the public about Pittsburgh’s role as a “city of poetry.”

If you are a teacher or librarian in Allegheny County and are interested in having us visit your classroom or library, please contact our director, Dr. Jake Grefenstette, at director@internationalpoetryforum.org.

For additional resources for the study of poetry, be sure to visit the digital archives of the International Poetry Forum, which have been utilized by millions around the world.