Now in its fifth year, POETRY IN THE GARDEN brings award-winning poets to Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center for a series of summer-evening poetry readings.
Visitors enjoy both poetry and music at these FREE events, which have become a cultural destination for poetry lovers throughout much of Connecticut and the Hudson Valley. The readings take place in the Museum’s spectacular walled gardens, where flowers are at peak bloom. In the event of inclement weather, programs move inside the Garden House.
Each POETRY IN THE GARDEN program begins at 7:00 on Monday evenings throughout July. Guests are welcome to arrive as early as 6:30 with a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the events. Picnic dinners are welcome.
VOICES FROM MARGINALIZED AMERICA
This year, the series is thematically linked to the nation’s America 250 commemoration, welcoming poets (including two National Book Award winners and a 2025 Pulitzer Prize Finalist) whose works give voice to historically marginalized communities that have yet to fully enjoy the freedoms promised by the Declaration of Independence.
Mon., July 7 – Indigenous Voices: Kimberly Blaeser, Natasha Gambrell and Denise Low, with a performance of traditional Eastern Pequot Nation dance
Mon., July 14 – Immigrant Voices: Martin Espada and Joan Kwon Glass, with Brazilian jazz by Nanny Asis and Arthur Lipner
Mon., July 21 – LGBTQ+ Voices: Mark Doty and Trace Peterson, plus winners of the 2025 PRIDE poetry contest
Mon., July 28 – Black Voices: Danez Smith and Mahogany L. Browne, plus the world premiere of “Declaration,” an original composition by Andrew Levine, based on the poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Emerita Tracy K. Smith
Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center is located at 152 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT. The venue is fully accessible with ample parking onsite.
For more information, visit https://keelertavernmuseum.org/events/calendar/
