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The Long Beach Shakespeare Company is hosting its fourth annual Poetry Festival this weekend at the Helen Borgers Theatre<\/a> in Bixby Knolls. The festival offers three days filled with live performing artists, musicians and, of course, the spoken word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Holly Leveque, the company\u2019s artistic director and one of the show\u2019s performers, said the festival pays tribute to William Shakespeare, whose work has inspired writers and poets for centuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The festival begins Friday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. to coincide with Bixby Knolls\u2019 \u201cFirst Fridays\u201d \u2014 a free, monthly community art-walk and block party along Atlantic Avenue \u2014 with street poetry and free, on-demand typewriter poems outside the theater and a playful stage show inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4, the theater will open at 2 p.m. and bring a slew of poets, musicians and performance artists to the theater. Books and merchandise will be for sale in the theater\u2019s lobby and poetry readings, live music and performance artists on stage starting at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tickets for each full day of performances are $21.50 including fees and can be purchased at LBShakespeare.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Linda Ravenswood \u2014 a writer, performance artist and founder and editor of nonprofit publishing house The Los Angeles Press<\/a> \u2014 has been volunteering to help organize the festival since Leveque launched it in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the most ambitious lineup we\u2019ve had so far,\u201d Ravenswood said of this year\u2019s scheduled performers. \u201cIt\u2019s a real celebration.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the featured poets this weekend are several from Long Beach, including Nancy Woo<\/a>, Vietnam veteran Jay Eiser<\/a>, Youth Poets<\/a> performing on Sunday and Leveque herself, who will join others for \u201cLegends Among Us,\u201d an experimental spoken-word performance on Sunday at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other notable poets include what Ravenswood describes as the \u201celite crown jewels\u201d of the West Coast poetry community \u2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace<\/a> and former Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson<\/a>; former San Francisco Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin<\/a>; activist poet Matt Sedillo<\/a>, literary director of the Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles<\/a>; Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine<\/a>; poet Richard Modiano, former director of\u00a0 the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center<\/a>; and Los Angeles performance poet and actor S.A. Griffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf one of these people was going to be there, it would be enough of a draw, but we have like seven of the most celebrated writers that California can possibly offer up,\u201d Ravenswood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The festival also includes poets who are also musicians and performance artists, such as Anna Homler \u2014 who Ravenswood says integrates music and art using her body, words and objects \u2014 Jeff Schwartz and \u201cimmersive artist\u201d Terence Leclere, who will provide background music for some of the poets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI love something that’s a blend,\u201d Ravenswood said. \u201cPerformance art and poetry works for me, because there’s a literary component, there’s maybe a musical component, there’s a performative component.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The festival also includes visual artists, prose writers and a journalist, she said, allowing \u201clots of different artistic expressions,\u201d among the dozens scheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ravenswood herself will be behind the typewriter Friday night, writing poetry on demand for donations. She said people seek poems for a variety of reasons: because their dog died or they need marriage vows or it\u2019s their mother\u2019s birthday next week and they need a meaningful and specifically tailored \u201cinstant Hallmark card.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But that is just the start to the three-day, multi-genre festival, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome to have your mind blown,\u201d Ravenswood said, \u201cbecause it’s going to be maybe the best show ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n