In 1976, the Vietnam War ended, Bill Gates and Paul Allen tossed Microsoft into the world, Jaws ripped through theaters, and Martha Moffett founded Friends of Poetry in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The organization obtained its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 1984. Since its inception, Friends of Poetry has been a powerful force fostering the enjoyment of the reading and writing of poetry throughout the greater Kalamazoo community.

Through readings, workshops, contests, and special events, Friends of Poetry remains dedicated to bringing people and poetry together.

Poems That Ate Our Ears

In 1987, the first Poems That Ate Our Ears contest was held. Now considered the longest running kids’ poetry contest in Michigan, “The Poems That Ate Our Ears” is open to students aged 4 to 18 in Southwest Michigan. 

Poetry on the Buses

Friends of Poetry initially held a “Poetry on the Buses” contest limited to eight line poems: a size dictated by their display on placards on city buses. Friends of Poetry soon began exploring new ways to reach the community, and poems soon traveled beyond the streets.

Artifactory

Artifactory was an annual collision between poetry & Kalamazoo/southwest Michigan artifacts & history. During Artifactory, historical commentary is given by experts and winning poems are read by the poets. This fusion of poetry and history has included topics such as blizzards, parks, tornadoes, one-way streets, celery, corsets, Gibson guitars, Elvis spottings, Michigan summers, Michigan winters, Checker Cabs, and, of course, the Kalamazoo mummy.

Friends of Poetry collaborated with the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on this venture from 2004-2017. After a two-year hiatus, the project resumed in 2019 with Zhang Legacy Collections Center hosting the event and providing historical commentary inspired by the selected poems.

Murals

Scattered throughout the city were poems written by young people. These poems are accompanied by the artwork of Conrad Kaufman.