National Kick Off Celebration
“You Are Here: Poetry in Parks”
Signature Project of U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón
Friday, June 14, 2024
5-7 PM
Free and open to the public
Sold Out Event | Public Livestream Link Below
Join us to Celebrate Poetry Installations in National Parks and a New Anthology of Nature Poems
A partnership between the Library of Congress, National Park Service, and Poetry Society of America. Hosted by the Fine Arts Work Center.
The Fine Arts Work Center
24 Pearl Street, Provincetown MA 02657
5:00 PM Reception
Daniel A. Mullin Courtyard
5:30 to 6:00 PM Remarks and Reading by Ada Limón
Stanley Kunitz Common Room
6:00 – 7:00 PM “You Are Here” Anthology Book Signing
Stanley Kunitz Common Room
For those unable to attend in person, there will be a free, public live stream available here.
Join 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Ada Limón for the national kick off of “You Are Here: Poetry in Parks.” This initiative will feature site-specific poetry installations in seven national parks across the country, beginning with the Cape Cod National Seashore. These installations, which will transform picnic tables into works of public art, each feature a historic American poem that connects in a meaningful way to the park.
During the free public celebration at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Ada Limón will read each of the featured poems. She will then sign copies of the new anthology “You Are Here: Poetry in the National World,” available for purchase during the event.
The featured poets and poems include:
Mary Oliver, “Can You Imagine?” at Cape Cod National Seashore
Jean Valentine, “The valley” at Cuyahoga Valley National Park
June Jordan, “Ecology” at Everglades National Park
Lucille Clifton, “the earth is a living thing” at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A.R. Ammons, “Uppermost” at Mount Rainier National Park
Francisco X. Alarcón, “Never Alone” at Redwood National and State Parks
Ofelia Zepeda, “Na:nko Ma:s Cewagi/Cloud Song” at Saguaro National Park
About “You Are Here”
“You Are Here,” Ada Limón’s signature project as the nation’s 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, launched during National Poetry Month in April with a celebration at the Library of Congress and now continues with installations of poetry as public art in national parks across the country.
“You Are Here” is comprised of two major initiatives, a new anthology of nature poems and a series of visits to national parks, as well as a call for the public to participate. The anthology, “You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World,” is published by Milkweed Editions in association with the Library of Congress. It features a foreword by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, an introduction by Limón, and 50 original poems by living American poets, including former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo; Pulitzer Prize winners Jericho Brown, Carl Phillips, and Diane Suess; and PEN/Voelcker Award winners Victoria Chang and Rigoberto González.
Following the kick off event at the Cape Cod National Seashore on June 14, Limón will travel to each of the participating parks in 2024 to unveil and celebrate the new installations and support community outreach.
June 14: Cape Cod National Seashore (Massachusetts)
June 21: Mount Rainier National Park (Washington)
June 23: Redwood National and State Parks (California)
July 12: Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio)
July 20: Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina and Tennessee)
Oct. 8: Everglades National Park (Florida)
Dec. 3: Saguaro National Park (Arizona)
Limón’s Work as Poet Laureate
As poet laureate, Limón has participated in other major programs and initiatives to share poetry with the public. For National Poetry Month 2023, Limón served as the guest editor for the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series.
On June 1, 2023 Limón returned to the Library to reveal “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” which she wrote for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. Limón’s poem will be engraved on the spacecraft that will travel 1.8 billion miles to explore Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. More than 2.5 million from people around the world signed on to send their names to space with the poem. The Clipper will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch period opens on Oct. 10, 2024.
In November 2023 Limón’s poem “Startlement,” commissioned by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, was released in the frontmatter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment — a congressionally mandated effort by the program and 14 federal agencies on the risks, impacts, and responses to climate change in the United States. This marked the first time the report included poetry.
Ada Limón was born in Sonoma, California, in 1976 and is of Mexican ancestry. She is the author of six poetry collections, including The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry; Bright Dead Things (2015), a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Books Critics Circle Award; Sharks in the Rivers (2010); Lucky Wreck (Autumn House, 2006); and This Big Fake World (Pearl Editions, 2006). She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University and is the recipient of fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
Her newest poetry collection, The Hurting Kind (2022), was published as part of a three-book deal with Milkweed Editions that includes the publication of Beast: An Anthology of Animal Poems, featuring work by major poets over the last century, followed by a volume of new and selected poems.
About the Poet Laureate Position
The Library of Congress Literary Initiatives Office is the home of the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, a position that has existed since 1937 when Archer M. Huntington endowed the Chair of Poetry at the Library. Since then, many of the nation’s most eminent poets have served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress and, after the passage of Public Law 99-194 (Dec. 20, 1985), as Poet Laureate
About the Fine Arts Work Center
The Fine Arts Work Center is an artist-led organization based in Provincetown and connected to the world. We support artistic freedom, nurture creative connections, and make possible artistic achievements important to the larger culture.
Founded by a collective of artists and writers, including 10th U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz and abstract expressionist Robert Motherwell, the Fine Arts Work Center has provided time and space to emerging artists and writers at crucial, early stages of creative development for over five decades through our acclaimed seven-month Fellowship for 20 emerging writers and artists each year. We are additionally known for our open enrollment Summer Workshop Program, 24PearlStreet online writing program, and an extensive series of free, year-round cultural events and exhibitions. Learn more about upcoming events and workshops here.
Upcoming Events at FAWC
Live Thursday, December 12, 2024 In Person Friday, January 10, 2025 In Person Friday, February 14, 2025 
Student Open Mic Night with Nathan McClain
A Virtual Event
January FAWC Friday
Stanly Kunitz Common Room
and Hudson D. Walker Gallery
February FAWC Friday
Stanly Kunitz Common Room
and Hudson D. Walker Gallery
View more upcoming events here.
All readings and artist talks are held in the Stanley Kunitz Common Room, unless otherwise noted. Our annual summer exhibition, Edge Condition, is on view June 6 through August 22, 2024 in our Hudson D. Walker Gallery. Both venues are located at 24 Pearl Street in Provincetown.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12 PM-5 PM
The gallery is also open by appointment and during all public events
The Stanley Kunitz Common Room and the Hudson D. Walker Gallery are accessible facilities in compliance with ADA guidelines.
If you require assistance to access these venues, please call the Fine Arts Work Center at 508-487-9960 ext.101 in advance of your visit.
Sponsored in part by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Cape Cod 5 Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Massachusetts Cultural Council
