Poetry festival coming to Long Beach

For poetry fans, it will be the best of times and the versed of times in Long Beach on April 5-6.

The Long Beach Public Library and the literary group Shore Poets will host the third annual "It's a Shore Thing! Poetry Festival," a two-day event celebrating April as National Poetry Month.

"The festival last year was attended by 300 people," said Paula Curci, co-producer of the festival and a Nassau County poet laureate emerita. "The poetry community on Long Island is alive and vibrant."

Among the scheduled events are curated poetry readings; open mics; four workshops each day covering topics from songwriting to how to self-publish your poems; a screening of the short film "Poetry in Motion" about 12 Long Island poets; and a yoga class with a side of poetry.

"Bring your yoga mat," Curci said.

Guests will include Nassau's Deputy County Executive Anissa Moore; Lindamichelle Baron, poet laureate of the Town of Hempstead; and Alan Semerdjian, Nassau County poet laureate.

The festival is free and runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 5 and from 1 to 5 p.m. April 6. For more information and to register, go to longbeachlibrary.org.

While the rhyme and reason behind the festival is to wax poetic, Curci adds that writers of all genres and poetry lovers of all kinds are welcome. "What I find is that a lot of poets are also novelists and also journalists," she said. "The festival is a place where people get to network and share ideas. I'm looking at it as a mini-conference."