Poetry festival Nov. 16-18

The Long Branch Arts Council, in collaboration with Monmouth University, will present the Second Annual Long Branch Poetry Festival Nov. 16-18. The three-day celebration of poetry features readings and panels by internationally acclaimed poets and editors and is free and open to the public.

The festival schedule is:

Thursday, Nov. 16, 6-6:45 p.m., welcome reception Wilson Hall; 7-8:30 p.m.; Dinner with the Poets ($35); 8:30-9:30 p.m., featured poet Natasha Trethewey.

Friday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Wilson Hall: 10-11 a.m. readings by Oty Abajoh-Laoye, Mary Kate Azcuy, Saliba Sarsar; 11 a.m. - noon, poetry and conversation panel with Mary Kate Azcuy, MU president Paul Gaffney and Saliba Sarsar; noon - 1:50 p.m., luncheon open mic; 2-3 p.m., featured poet Tom Sleigh; 3:15 - 5 p.m., readings by Laura Boss, Margaret DelGuercio, Frank Finale, Suzanne Parker, Thomas Reiter, Frank Valentino, and B.J. Ward; 5:15- 6:15 p.m.; creative process panel featuring Thomas Reiter, Tom Sleigh and Natasha Trethewey; NJ Rep Theatre, Theatre Brut Festival, Lumia Theatre, Broadway, Long Branch, 8-10 p.m. Open mic, Long Branch Library, 10-11:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 18, 9-3 p.m., Wilson Hall: 10-11 a.m., readings by Prescott Evarts, Laura McCollough, Richard Paris and Michael Thomas. 11-noon, small press publishing, Thom Ward; poetry readings in Spanish featuring Priscilla Gac-Artigas, Ileana Fleites-LaSalle, Gustavo Gac-Artigas, Catherine Heredia and Justin Karpinski; noon-1:50 p.m., luncheon open mic; 2-3 p.m. readings by Thom Ward; 3:15-5 p.m., Roosevelt poets reading, Scott Carpenter, Wieslaw Cryzewski, David Herrstrom, Judith McNally, Ron Kostar and Rod Tullos; 8-10 p.m., NJ Rep Theatre, Theatre Brut Festival.

The entire schedule is available at www.monmouth.edu/arts. For a detailed schedule of participating poets, readings, events, locations and reservations, contact the university box office at (732) 263-MUTX (6889).