While we have introduced many distinguished nationally-known poets through our programs, our real objective is to support emerging artists. Many of yesterday’s “emerging” poets have become household names. A flyer for Moonstone Readings at Robin’s Bookstore for October/November 1993 included readings by poets and authors: Dennis Brutus (Oct 7), Ted Joans & Sonia Sanchez (Oct 19), Ernesto Cardenal (Oct 24), Marjorie Agosin (Nov 5), Maya Angelou (Nov. 15), Eleanor Wilner (Nov 17), and Michael S. Weaver (Dec 8).
The Moonstone Poetry Series presents about 80 readings a year at several venues with featured poets followed by an open reading. We are at Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street every Wednesday at 7pm. Each week of the month has a different host, that is we have five host for this series. The objective is to present a variety of poets with different styles, hopefully to expand our appreciation of the variety of poetry available. We also do special programs at Fergie’s on some Sunday’s at 2pm, Moonstone Press book releases and visiting poets who cannot join us on Wednesday’s.
Our Philly Loves Poetry program on PhillyCAM (public access television) looks at the amazing variety of poetry groups in Philadelphia through discussion and reading. 2019 is our seventh year at PhillyCAM, two years of Mentored and Mentored, two years of Who do you Love, and this is our third year of Philly Loves Poetry. You can see many of these programs on PhillyCAM’s website, click “on demand” and then “Moonstone Arts Center.”
Our newest program is New Voices: Philadelphia’s Emerging Poets, featuring poets under the age of 25, including high school and college students. This is a monthly series of readings and will include an anthology of their work.
Poetry Ink: 100 Poets Reading is a seven-hour poetry reading held every year, in which poets present their work back to back, often in pairings that create contrasts between styles, levels of experience and the culture of the poets themselves.
“Nowhere else in Philly do we get such a wonderful mix of people, voices, and generations, and it is an experience in varieties of personalities as much as in poetry and poetics – everything from uplift to satire, from political protest to personal sorrow, love poems and tirades, transgression an decorum, the outrageous and the outraged, ranters and restrained formalists, street and academy, performance poets and shy ladies barely audible – pretty much the human spectrum. I loved listening…stayed a while, came back for more. Anyway, it was a great day…Only death is as great a leveler as Moonstone [Arts Center].” – Eleanor Wilner, author of Tourist in Hell and six other books as well as fellowships from MacArthur Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
To keep up on what is coming, 
View Our Upcoming Events!