Our History
Founded in 1966, the International Poetry Forum is an independent nonprofit organization that has hosted hundreds of the world’s most iconic poets, actors, and musicians in Pittsburgh, PA.
Participants in the International Poetry Forum’s reading series and educational programs have included greats like W.H. Auden, Seamus Heaney, Mary Oliver, Elizabeth Bishop, Chinua Achebe, Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, Gwendolyn Brooks, Tennessee Williams, Czesław Miłosz, Derek Walcott, Adonis, Kurt Vonnegut, Yoshimasu Gōzō, Gregory Peck, James Earl Jones, Brooke Shields, Anthony Hopkins, Ellen Burstyn, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Fred Rogers, Judy Collins, Princess Grace of Monaco, Queen Noor of Jordan, and many more.
The idea for the International Poetry Forum traces its origins to a speech by Dr. Samuel Hazo introducing W.H. Auden at a poetry reading in Pittsburgh. In his speech, Hazo envisioned an independent reading series that would bring the world’s finest poets to Pittsburgh—particularly poets who emphasize poetry as a spoken art form.
After Auden’s reading, Theodore L. Hazlett Jr.—then head of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust—approached Hazo to make his vision a reality. In 1966, the International Poetry Forum launched under the initial sponsorship of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Mellon Trust. The inaugural reading featured Archibald MacLeish at the Carnegie Lecture Hall on October 19, 1966.
The International Poetry Forum incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and grew into one of the most celebrated independent poetry programs in the world, hosting over 800 poets, actors, musicians, artists, and public figures from more than 50 countries to offer poetry readings and educational programs in Pittsburgh. Alumni of the International Poetry Forum to date include nine Nobel Laureates, 14 Academy Award recipients, 29 U.S. Poets Laureate and Consultants, 40 National Book Award winners, 49 Pulitzer Prize winners, one princess, one queen, and one Steelers Super Bowl MVP.
In addition to its flagship reading series, the Forum has founded a poets in the schools program and supported the creation of several collaborative publication projects, including the launch of the Pitt Poetry Series in 1968. For a period of ten years, the Forum also hosted collaborative events at Wolf Trap National Park and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1990, the Smithsonian awarded the International Poetry Forum the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal, making it the only literary organization in the country ever to receive that honor.
In 2023, following a hiatus in the reading series, Hazo announced the revival of the International Poetry Forum’s public programs, naming Dr. Jake Grefenstette as the new executive director of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Today, the International Poetry Forum’s flagship reading series and educational outreach programs inspire thousands in Pittsburgh each year. The Forum’s digital resources have also grown to become some of the most popular platforms for the study and appreciation of poetry online, helping to share Pittsburgh’s unique literary heritage with millions around the world.
Our Team
Jake Grefenstette
President & Executive Director
Growing up in Pittsburgh, Jake Grefenstette’s love of literature was shaped by a generation of educators who benefited from the International Poetry Forum’s educational outreach programs. Grefenstette now serves as president and executive director of the International Poetry Forum, managing the nonprofit organization’s reading series, educational programs, and development of digital resources.
In addition to his work at the International Poetry Forum, Grefenstette is special faculty in English and philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University and editor of the Carnegie Mellon University Press Poetry Series and Literary Translation Series. He has also published on and worked in film, including a “Special Thanks” credit on the extended cut of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life.
Grefenstette's academic work sits at the intersection of literature, philosophy, and theology. Following undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Oxford, he received an M.Phil. from Peking University in Beijing, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He lives in Pittsburgh with his family and their dog, Frodo Waggins.
Samuel Hazo
Founder & Director Emeritus
Samuel John Hazo was born in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1928. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1957 and founded the International Poetry Forum in 1966. Hazo served as the first Poet Laureate of Pennsylvania (1993-2003) and is now McAnulty Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Duquesne University.
Hazo is the author of more than sixty books of poetry, fiction, plays, and essays, including the recent volume, The Less Said, the Truer: New and Selected Poems, 2016–2022 (Syracuse University Press). His early translations of Ali Ahmad Said Esber, The Blood of Adonis (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971), brought one of the century’s most famous Arabic-language poets to a broad American audience.
A National Book Award finalist (1973), Hazo’s many accolades include the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service (2024) and thirteen honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. More on Hazo’s life and work can be found here.
Board of Directors & Officers
-
John "Jake" Grefenstette, Ph.D.
PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
-
Mike Aquilina
CHAIR
-
Janine Molinaro, Ph.D.
VICE-CHAIR
-
David M. Belczyk
TREASURER
-
Kathy Humphrey, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR
-
Sridhar Tayur, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR
-
Tricia O'Reilly
DIRECTOR
-
Noland J. Cheung
DIRECTOR
-
Irina Peris
DIRECTOR
-
Samuel J. Hazo, Ph.D.
FOUNDER, DIRECTOR EMERITUS
-
Daniel McTiernan
SECRETARY, NON-DIRECTOR
Past Directors & Honorary Directors
-
Nouha Alhegelan
-
Gregg Behr
-
Jack Bogut
-
James B. Burnham
-
David Conrad
-
Simin Curtis
-
John Doherty
-
Thomas J. Donnelly
-
George T. Farrell
-
Sr. Grace Ann Geibel
-
Robert E. Grote
-
Jane Hirshfield
-
James Earl Jones
-
Tasso Katselas
-
John N. Kyle
-
Albert C. Labriola
-
James Laughlin
-
William E. Markus
-
Chryss O'Reilly
-
Gregory Peck
-
John Rago
-
Scott Sander
-
Hon. Adolph W. Schmidt
-
Jo-Ann Sipple
-
Louis Vitti
-
Eli Wallach
-
Richard Wilbur
-
Sr. Linda Yankoski
-
H.S.H. Princess Grace of Monaco
Advisory Council
-
Clare Ansberry-Smith
Cameron Barnett
Tess Barry
Joan E. Bauer
Jon Bindley
Amy Bowman-McElhone
Louis Boyle
Sarah Ceurvorst
Kristofer Collins
Jim Daniels
Robert Bernard Hass
Robert Hoover
Jamillia Kamara Covington
Kristen Kelly
Sigrid King
Karen S. Kingsbury
Don Maue
Daniel R. McTiernan
Gayle Rogers
Anjali Sachdeva
Diane Samuels
Fred Shaw
Ed Simon
Matt Smith
Michael A. Smith
Eileen Stewart
Seth Strickland
Christine Stroud
Sony Ton-Aime
Steven Toussaint
Scott Tuffiash
-
Gloria Acklin
Dr. Donald Adam
Sr. M. Aquinas
Janice Auth
Roger Babusci
Joanne Bailey
Dr. Frances J. Barnes
Hon. Francis A. Barry
Marilyn Bates
Philip E. Beard
Gregg Behr
Arthur Bergholz
Dr. Paula R. Bern
Robert M. Bernardini
Most Rev. Anthony J. Bevilacqua
Dr. JoAnn Bevilacqua Weiss
Barbara Beyer
James Beymer
Marvin H. Black
Claire Bloom CBE
Mabel G. Bookert
Charles Bookert
Most Rev. Anthony G. Bosco
Martha Bosley
John J. Bosley, Jr.
Dr. Doreen Boyce
Hon. Hugh C. Boyle
Louis Boyle
David D. Britton
Carol Brown
Edwin Brueggman
Dr. Frank Bruns
Elaine Bryan
Anne Burnham
Herbert F. Byrne
Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri
Virgil Cantini
Tito Capobianco
Pat Carroll
Dr. T.E. Cartwright
Rosemary Casey
Anna Catone
Nanette Chapman
Joan Chelemer
Michael D. Cheteyan
Shirley Chiesa
Dr. John A. Clair
Rev. Hugh Clark
Annabelle Clippinger
Jane Coleman
Dr. Lynn Conroy
Harold Corsini
Gerald Costanzo
Arthur Cowles
Congressman William J. Coyne
John G. Craig
George L. Craig, Jr.
Doris Crozier
James Cvetic
Dr. Richard M. Cyert
Irma D'Ascenza
John Dankworth
Jay Dantry
Donnis DeCamp
Patricia Dillman
Keith Doms
John F. Donahue
Thomas J. Donnelly
Marilyn Donnelly
Carol B. Dyas
Arthur Eastman
Frederick N. Egler
Ruth Egler
Dr. Frances Eldredge
James Elkus
A. Ralph Ellis
Peter Fabian
Leon A. Falk
Dr. Arthur H. Fedel
Sr. Marylouise Fennell
Rina Ferrarelli
Janet Ferrell
Senator D. Michael Fisher
Brendan Fitzgerald
Commissioner Pete Flaherty
Charles M. Fletcher
Nicholas G. Flocos
Commissioner Tom Foerster
John Frazier
Alter C. Friedman
Janice Friedman
DeLos Peyton Fulwylie, Sr.
Robert B. Funkhouser
Earl L. Gadbery
Norbert S. Garbisch, Jr.
Hazel Garland
Kathleen George
Gail Ghai
Hugh Gilmour
Charles R. Goetz
G.S. Goldfield
Lois Grose
Nancy Grote
Joseph & Christine Gurski
William P. Hackney
Commissioner Barbara Hafer
Rt. Rev. Alden M. Hathaway
Sara Henderson Hay
Mary Hazard
Susan I. Hazlett
Theodore L. Hazlett, Jr.
Mary Anne Hazo
Sr. Kathleen Healy
Drue Heinz
Senator John Heinz
Robert I. Hendel
Frederick A. Hetzel
Dr. Dorothy Hill
Rick Horton
Nan Huested
Marilyn Hufstader
Jacqueline Hughes
Todd Hunt, Jr.
Hon. K. Leroy Irvis
Rabbi Walter Jacob
Janet Jacobs
John Johns
Pamela Johnson
W. Augustus Jones
James Earl Jones
James A. Jordon
Eileen Joyce
David Junker
Eugene M. Kail
Jane Katselas
Nymphe Kefal
Ann T. Kerr
William E. Kerr
Russell Kierzkowski
Beatrice King
Svetlana Kluge-Harris
John Knorr
Leslie Koeper
Jerzy Kosinski
Dr. John W. Kraft
J. Craig Kuhn, Esq.
Dorothy E. Kyle
John N. Kyle
Leonard L. Labriola
Cleo Laine
Walter Leuba
Aaron P. Levinson
William Libby
Marge Logsdon
Carla Lucente
Donna Lund
John Manear
Sidney Marland
Anthony Martin
Andrea Martine
Rev. Henry J. McAnulty
Most Rev. John B. McDowell
Barry McGurk
Leslie Anne Mcilroy
Prof. William P. McShea
Paul Mellon
Bernard Meredith
Helen R. Meurer
Gregor F. Meyer
Natalie Meyers
John H. Miller
William E. Mooney
Charles H. Moore
Geraldine Morgan
Thomas Murphy
Rev. Donald S. Nesti
Anne New
Br. Jerome Niland
Jeff O'Brien
Manning O'Connor II
Dr. A. J. F. O'Reilly
Ed Ochester
Dr. David Or
Barbara D. Palmer
Charles W. Parry
Christine Pasinski
Anne K. Patton
Alfred Pelaez
Robert Petraglia
Anthony Petrosky
Patricia Petrosky
Anne Picone
John A. Pidgeon
Victoria Polinko
Dr. Wesley W. Posvar
Jean Purvis
Robert P. Randall
Rita Randall
Don Riggs
Jack Riley
Grace Rishell
Christine Ann Romanus
Daniel M. Rooney
Jamie Rooney
Patricia Rooney
Pat Rooney
Diana Rose
Thomas Ross
Jerrold Rouby
Scott Sander
Dr. Jane Scarborough
Hon. Adolph W. Schmidt
Gladys Schmitt
Kurt C. Schreiber
Dalia Scioscia
Karen Segas
Charles L. Sewell
John A. Shaffer
Michael Simms
Jane Smith
Marj Palmer Smuts
Janet W. Solinger
Ceci Sommers
Nancy Sprague
Cecile M. Springer
Dr. Rebecca Stafford
Agnes Lynch Starrett
Ernest Stefanik
Dean Erwin R. Steinberg
Shirley Stevens
Arthur Stewart
Dr. Frank J. Suatoni, Jr.
Clarke M. Thomas
Dr. Jeffrey Thomson
Governor Dick Thornburgh
Jinny Thornburgh
Lorraine Husted Toth
Mary Ann Vallus
Alan Van Dine
Rev. Leo V. Vanyo
Dean Frank W. Wadsworth
Congressman Doug Walgren
James M. Walton
Richard Wells
Barbara Wells
Jerry Wenneker
Dr. Robert F. Whitman
Lois Wholey
Jeanne-Anne Widgery
Robert C. Wilburn
Teresa Wilson
Regis Wolff
Michael Wurster
Dr. Ellie Wymard
Sr. Rita Yeasted
Patricia Yoder
Dr. Frank Zbozny
Paul Zimmer
Christine Zoccole
*Note: The Advisory Council Emeriti list includes individuals from groups previously known as the Board of Associates, Friends of the Forum, and the Anniversary Committee. For a full list of individuals and institutions who have supported the International Poetry Forum since 1966, click here.