Our History and Mission
Who We Are
The Jackson Heights Poetry Festival (JHPF) was founded in 2007.
It began as an idea over coffee, and blossomed into a vigorous grassroots effort to celebrate poetry and community.The JHPF's goal is to spread the joy of poetry and promote poetry as a means of representing and uniting communities. We believe that poetry is an important vehicle for the expression of identity and culture, and therefore essential to community life.
To fulfill the organization's mission, we organize an annual three-day poetry festival, a student poetry contest open to all middle and high school students in New York City, a series of critically-themed panel discussions and poetry workshops, a monthly open poetry reading, a monthly video interview series with noted poets and arts organizers, and maintain an active website.
Garden School
Garden School is JHPF's umbrella organization. Garden School is an independent Pre-K through 12th grade school located in Jackson Heights, Queens, and is committed to the same objectives of diversity and spreading the love of writing as the JHPF, making the two organizations natural partners. The school is in the heart of Jackson Heights and houses students of many backgrounds, cultures and religions. Garden's student body reflects the ever-changing population of Queens, New York. It is dedicated to making its students the best writers they can be, and hosts The Writing Project, a writing-enrichment program for middle schoolers offered at full scholarship.Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in Queens, New York. Representing over twenty different nationalities, it is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States and an ideal setting for an organization that seeks to celebrate diversity and community through poetry.