(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) invites poets of all ages to be a part of a free poetry workshop to be held Saturday, June 18 at 12:30pm during the 2022 Princeton Festival. Guest poet Nicole Homer will lead the “Just Poetry” workshop and talk about how what we see onstage can move us to be creative. This year’s prompt invites poets to take inspiration from themes found in Derrick Wang’s opera Scalia/Ginsburg. The poetry will explore what it means to be a feminist, the concept of dissent, and how to forge unlikely friendships in difficult times. 

Participants can bring their original poetry and receive first-hand feedback in this guided masterclass. They will also have the opportunity to read their poetry aloud afterwards at a 3pm “Just Poetry” reading. Both events are free and open to the public. For additional information or to RSVP, visit princetonsymphony.org/festival or contact Katie Miller at kmiller@princetonsymphony.org.

Nicole Homer is a New Jersey-based community college educator, poet, writer, and performer whose work can be found in the American Academy of Poets Poem-a-Day, Muzzle, The Offing, Rattle, and elsewhere. A fellow of Callaloo, Bread Loaf, Tin House, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Homer serves as a Contributing Editor at BlackNerdProblems. Their award-winning collection, Pecking Order (Write Bloody 2017), explores race and gender politics in the domestic sphere. She is honored to have shared stages with poets in slams across the country, to have been the 2018 Dartmouth Poet-in-Residence at The Frost Place, to have received a 2020 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and to be alive. She is currently working on her next project, Fast Tail.

Health and Safety: The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is closely monitoring and adhering to the New Jersey Department of Health’s COVID-19 Requirements. Princeton Festival COVID policies are available on the PSO website.

Accessibility: The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is committed to ensuring all programming is accessible for everyone, working with venues to provide needed services. Contact ADA Coordinator Kitanya Khateri for questions about available services at kkhateri@princetonsymphony.org or 609 497-0020. Note: some services require at least two weeks’ notice to arrange.

Founded in 2004, the Princeton Festival has established a strong profile as a multi-faceted, summer performing arts festival attracting people from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. The Festival has a reputation for artistic excellence, for growing the number and variety of its offerings, and for serving an audience of up to 8,000. The Festival promotes life-long learning in the arts, from children to seniors, through performance opportunities for children and young people in the piano competition and opportunities for young emerging professionals to perform principal and supporting roles. The Festival has long-standing partnerships with public libraries and local churches to offer its series of free educational lectures to a wide and diversified community.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey’s finest music organizations, a position established through performances of beloved masterworks, innovative music by living composers, and an extensive network of educational programs offered to area students free of charge. Led by Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and related events that supplement the concert experience.