Legacy of Poetry 2021

Legacy of Poetry Headliner Graphic

In honor of National Poetry Month, San José State University’s Poets and Writers Coalition will host the 2021 Legacy of Poetry Festival: “Closing the Distance—Sheltering in Technolog[ies],” online from April 15 - 23. We hope you'll be able to join us at one of these events! 

Special Thank You to President Mary Papazian, who featured Legacy of Poetry 2021 in her President's Blog. Please take a listen and make sure to catch President Papazian read as part of our festival! 


Performance Poetry Video Contest

Though our Legacy of Poetry live programming may be over, we still have one more event for you to enjoy! The Poets and Writers Coalition, teaming up with Poetry Center San José, is hosting a Performance Poetry Video Contest! 

Submit videos for the contest using this Google Form and watch the videos on this Youtube Playlist or in the player below. Let us know which videos are your favorites in the comments! 

Contest Winners 

  • 1st Place: Ume Ali
  • 2nd Place: Emilio Gallegos
  • 3rd Place: Ben Soriano

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all who submitted! 

Video Contest Full Playlist 


Other Videos

Performance Poetry and Video Production Workshop

Poets in Conversation: Ellen Bass and Toi Derricotte

Highlighting the Legacy: SJSU Poetry from The Archive

SJSU Faculty, Staff and Alumni Reading

Reed Magazine Reading

Poetry Center San José / Map Project (2a & 2b­)

Neomi Press Masterclass