This weekend, "STIR: A Festival of Words" will feature 80 poets in 22 events, four workshops, two exhibitions and one anthology.
"We wanted to celebrate words, and poetry especially, from the state of New Mexico," festival founder and poet Lisa Gill said. "There are so many amazing writers. It's great they can all be recognized. There are also some amazing writers that are from places like Canada and New York."
Most of the festival's events will be on campus.
"We thought it was a good way to really reach out to students," Gill said.
The performances have been polished, so expect high quality, she said.
"I and a lot of the other performers this weekend have been working on this event for a year and a half, so I'm really excited to see the different events," Gill said. "I think it's going to be great. We want to make this event happen annually after this."
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The festival features many styles of writing.
One is Floetry, held in the SUB at 8 p.m. on Friday.
"Floetry is going to be an event that a lot of people will want to watch, because there are a huge range of performers coming together that night," Floetry performer and slam poet Hakim Bellamy said. "There will be a producer with beats who works with poetry. There will also be video poetry and movement poetry and singing, as well."
There's a $5 suggested donation, but everyone will be admitted, he said.
"A lot of different artists can come together and express themselves because you can go to something like a slam poetry event, for example, or poetry reading and relate to a person one on one," he said. "That person doesn't necessarily have to be famous to be appreciated. You can be inspired by someone who's your neighbor, and I think that's what things like the STIR Fest event are all about."
Joy Harjo, a professor in UNM's English department, will also perform this weekend.
She plays in a band called Arrow Dynamics, and the band's songs are based on her poetry.
"It's important that all different types of writers are coming together," Harjo said. "Shows like STIR Fest help you grow as a writer. And for young writers, it's a great opportunity to have their work shown."
StirWordFest.wordpress.com has information on the events and the artists' writings and biographies that briefly go into the artists' backgrounds.
