Upcoming Readings for 2025

March 9, 2025: Wang Jiaxin

Wang JiaxinWang Jiaxin is a distinguished Chinese poet, essayist, and translator, with over forty books published. His collection Darkening Mirror (Tebot Bach, 2017), translated by Diana Shi and George O’Connell with a foreword by Robert Hass, has received international acclaim. Wang’s poetry has appeared in publications such as The American Poetry Review and Words Without Borders. He has been recognized with numerous awards, including the inaugural Ai Qing Poetry Award in 2023. Wang currently divides his time between New York and Beijing, continuing to bridge cultures through his translations of poets like Yeats and Paul Celan.

May 4, 2025: Mark Wunderlich

Mark WunderlichMark Wunderlich is the author of four books of poems, the most recent of which is God of Nothingness, published in 2021 by Graywolf Press. His other books include The Earth Avails, (Graywolf Press 2014) which received the Rilke Prize from the University of North Texas and which was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Award, Voluntary Servitude (Graywolf, 2004) and The Anchorage (UMass Press, 1999) which received the Lambda Literary Award. Wunderlich’s work has been published in over 30 anthologies including multiple volumes of The Best American Poetry, and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, The New Republic, The Paris Review, Poetry, The New York Times Magazine, and has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered.

Our Poet Interviews

What does a pencil have in common with an elephant? Mark Irwin has brought both into entertaining, poignant, and masterful poems. Read more about it in our exclusive KPS interview by Ann van Buren and celebrate Mother’s Day when Irwin reads at 4PM in the Katonah Village Library.

And check out our other archived Poet Interviews for fascinating insights into other KPS poets over the years.

Your beloved Katonah Poetry Series (KPS) is at risk. Covid-19 brought a significant decrease to audience size, program volunteerism, and the fundraising efforts needed to sustain this Series. You have the power to help save KPS. Your gift today will ensure that poetry remains an accessible art form in our community.

For over half a century, KPS has been a cultural institution. Founded by local poet Robert Phillips and continued with former Poet Laureate of the United States, Billy Collins, KPS has hosted the most accomplished poets in the world. 

While KPS is a program of the Katonah Library, it is independently managed by dedicated volunteers, because expenses for hosting renowned poets exceed the library’s program budget.

KPS cannot continue without your gift today. Please act now to ensure the future of poetry. Make a gift today and attend KPS events. Help keep the beauty of poetry in Katonah.

Donate to Katonah Poetry Series

Read our exclusive interviews with Jennifer Michael Hecht, Henri Cole, Kim Addonizio, Matthew Olzmann, Franny Choi, Kevin Pilkington, Peter Filkins, Dana Levin, Jenny Xie, Arthur Sze, Dan Chiasson, Forrest Gander, Rosanna Warren, Laura Kasischke, Gregory Djanikian, Timothy Donnelly, Timothy Liu, Diana Goetsch,  Deborah Landau, Maggie Smith, Brenda Shaughnessy, Carl Phillips, Major Jackson, and Alan Shapiro.
 
If you say on the steps of the Katonah Village Library for the past 35 years, nearly every notable American poet would have walked by. - Billy Collins, Poet Laureate
KPS has been presenting readings by prominent poets under the auspices of the Katonah Village Library since 1967.