Poetry &
By Angelique Palmer, Fairfax County Poet Laureate 2024-27
The "Poetry &" program is created by Angelique Palmer, Fairfax County Poet Laureate 2024-2027, sponsored by ArtsFairfax, and facilitated in partnership with venues throughout Fairfax County.
About Poetry &
Poetry & is a series of interactive public programs designed to fuse the art of poetry with other art forms, including the culinary and visual arts. Sponsored and facilitated by ArtsFairfax, Poetry & events will take place at select locations across the County.
Fairfax Poet Laureate 2024-2027
Angelique Palmer
“My vision for ‘Poetry &’ is to demonstrate how poetry can augment other art forms, including visual art and the culinary arts. Based on what we see, taste, and hear, how do we find the words that complement and enrich an artistic experience?”
Ms. Palmer will serve as Fairfax County Poet Laureate through September 2027.
Upcoming Poetry & Events
April 14, 2026
5:00-6:30pm
6641 Old Dominion Drive
McLean, VA
This April, two New Orleans natives bring the bayou to Northern Virginia—one through verse, one through flavor. ArtsFairfax will partner with Neutral Ground Bar + Kitchen to create a $40 three course prix-fixe menu inspired by Fairfax County Poet Laureate Angelique Palmer, available from April 7-14.
On Tuesday, April 14, hear from cookbook author and TV personality Chef David Guas and Fairfax County Poet Laureate Angelique Palmer to learn more about the partnership, enjoy remarks on the menu and a live poetry reading.
April 16, 2026
6:30-8:00pm
9518 Workhouse Way
Lorton, VA
ArtsFairfax partners with the Workhouse Arts Center For this Poetry & Visual Art workshop. Participants will explore and create ekphrastic poetry—a poem that describes or responds to visual art. Attendees will take inspiration from the Flourish exhibition, on view at the Workhouse Arts Center through May 16, 2026. Both novice and experienced poets are welcome and will have the opportunity to share their written creations.
April 28, 2026
6:00-8:00pm
1624 Boro Place
McLean, VA
ArtsFairfax partners with Fava Pot for a fusion of Poetry & food. For this one-night-only ticketed event, gather together with Fava Pot Chef Dina Daniel and Fairfax County Poet Laureate Angelique Palmer to explore how the foods we eat and the words we share create experiences that forge a culture, form an identity, and enrich one’s heritage.
More About Angelique
Angelique Palmer is a performance poet and kindergarten teacher, and a Spoken Word instructor at Wilkes University Maslow Family Creative Writing Graduate Program. A competitor with the Womxn of the World Poetry Slam, Ms. Palmer was the 5th-ranked woman poet in the world in 2015 and is currently ranked 19th among the top 96 poets in the world.
After 10 self-published chapbooks, Ms. Palmer’s first full-length book, The Chambermaid’s Style Guide, debuted on Sargent Press in 2016. Her second book is the 2021 follow-up Also Dark on Etruscan Press. Honored to be a part of such anthologies as The Queer Cookies Poetry Cookbook, and Sign & Breath: Voice and the Literary Tradition, she has also published online in Drunk in A Midnight Choir; Wus Good?: A POC Magazine; Borderline; and The Mud Review.
The New Orleans native and Florida State University Creative Writing graduate has called Virginia home since 2010 and Fairfax County home since 2017. She makes her own ice cream, shares kindness freely, and never hesitates to bond with anyone over “The Golden Girls.”
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Header image features artwork by Kebao Li