Founded by poet Joan Houlihan, the conference is held 9-10 times a year in locations around the United States and consists of book-length and chapbook-length poetry manuscript reviews by editors and publishers from established poetry presses, including Graywolf Press, Four Way Books, Persea Books, Omnidawn, Barrow Street Press and others, along with poets and editors including conference founder Joan Houlihan (Lesley University), Fred Marchant (Suffolk University) and Ellen Doré Watson (Smith College).
Founded by poet Joan Houlihan, this annual poetry conference takes place 9-10 times a year in different U.S. cities and features manuscript reviews of book-length and chapbook-length poems conducted by editors and publishers from established presses like Graywolf Press, Four Way Books, Persea Books, Omnidawn, Barrow Street Press, and others, as well as contributions from the conference's founder Joan Houlihan (Lesley University), Fred Marchant (Suffolk University), and Ellen Doré Watson (Smith College).