Since 1992, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival has welcomed nationally acclaimed poets to the picturesque landscape of Hill-Stead Museum, a National Historic Landmark in Farmington, Connecticut. Reflecting the festival that has attracted thousands to this rolling country estate, the poems in this collection have been selected with a broad audience in mind. In the spirit of the festival’s mission to nurture the art of poetry, the anthology features young and emerging poets alongside established poets, including Lucille Clifton, Billy Collins, Carolyn Forche, Yusef Komunyakaa, Maxine Kumin, James Merrill, Marilyn Nelson, Grace Paley, and Richard Wilbur. This new anthology captures the exciting and unique relationship between a distinctive American museum and poetic expression. In addition to a rich selection of poetry, the book includes both an illustrated introduction providing a history of the festival and an appendix listing all festival dates, poets, and musicians for each year.

The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival is a little paradise for poetry. - Galway Kinnell