What We Do
We celebrate the power, playfulness, and musicality of poetry, giving voice to what is often left unspoken and connecting the outer world with our inner lives.
Sundog Poetry’s mission is to promote poetry for the enrichment of our cultural lives: to support Vermont poets in their development through workshops, readings, and publication; and to cultivate in Vermont audiences of all ages a love and appreciation of this art through a variety of poetry programming.
“Sundogs reflect and increase the light, and that, after all, is what poetry does.”
— Tamra J. Higgins, Founder
Sundog Poetry is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization funded through programming, grants, and the generosity of individuals, businesses, and organizations.
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We are a remote organization serving the entire state of Vermont. Our events are held in various venues, which have included independent bookstores, Shelburne Farms, Burlington’s ECHO, Bryan Memorial Art Gallery in Jeffersonville, Jericho Center Library, River Arts in Morrisville, Next Stage Arts in Putney, and even in poets’ homes. Our retreats are held at Fielder Farm at the base of Camel’s Hump in Huntington, a short drive from Burlington and Vermont’s major airport.
"Christmas came early for me last year: on December 1, Frances Cannon notified me that I’d won the second annual Sundog Poetry Book Award. The prize of publication came with brilliant editorial assistance from Frances and two Sundog board members, Neil Shepard and Rebecca Starks, along with Frances’s beautiful cover design and drawings, which transformed my manuscript into a real book, Bags and Tools, published by Green Writers Press in time for National Poetry Month and capped with a superbly organized book launch event that was any hitherto unknown poet’s dream come true. What a gift — thank you, Sundog!”
— Michael Fleming, winner of the 2021 Sundog Poetry Book Award
“The work Sundog Poetry is doing to identify, publish, support, and promote Vermont poets feels more urgent than ever. More than just celebrating the writing itself in the form of their absolutely gorgeous publications, Sundog Poetry cultivates a community of Vermont poets and writers. As a farmer who lives rurally and writes independently, I was honored and elated to be welcomed into their community of diverse, thoughtful, kind, and impassioned writers. It is a community unique to Vermont; a literary landscape as rich in spirit as it is versatile in voice. As William Carlos Williams wrote, 'It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.' We don't need any more news. Good Lord, we are inundated with it. What we actually need is poetry. And Sundog helps us find it."
— Lucas Farrell, winner of the 2020 Sundog Poetry Book Award