Each morning, Monday through Friday, Poetry Breakfast publishes a new poem.

At Poetry Breakfast, our goal is to be a sort of literary soup kitchen.  Each day we deliver a poem that nourishes our humanity. 

Our focus is on the truth of how we are all the same on the inside.  We aim to help people begin their day by helping them connect to our collective humanity through poetry.  Anyone anywhere in the world can stop in at our website for a literary bite to eat.

Submissions are currently open.

Our History

In December of 2011, Poetry Breakfast started serving a new poem every morning.  The kitchen was busy, dozens of poets offered their best dishes, and people were fed well.  In October 2012, Poetry Breakfast was put on temporary hold due to Hurricane Sandy.  The decision was made in late November 2012 to stop serving breakfast indefinitely and perhaps permanently.

Kay (Ann) Kestner, the founder and editor of Poetry Breakfast lived along the Raritan Bay in New Jersey during the storm.  While she fared well, only losing power for a week, the impact shifted her priorities.

Just as the tides constantly change, so do the priorities in our lives.  After a few years hiatus, in March 2016, Kay returned with full energy to running the kitchen at Poetry Breakfast.

When running the Poetry and Arts Barn in New Egypt, NJ and editing Poetry Breakfast became too much to juggle, Kay closed the Poetry Breakfast kitchen in August 2019. (And later closed the Poetry and Arts Barn in 2020.)

April 2023 marks the rebirth of Poetry Breakfast with a more focused plan and goals of growing Poetry Breakfast into a stronger community – e

Awards:

Our goal is to give poets the exposure and credit they deserve.  This includes nominating outstanding work to both the Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize.  To see the poems we have nominated, visit our Awards Nominations page.

About the Editor

Kay Kestner grew up working at her family’s store in New Jersey. She’s an internationally published poet and the editor of Poetry Breakfast.  Her screenplay, “Art Never Lies,” was a 2022 finalist in the Bigfoot Collaboration with Trinity College Dublin Screenwriting Contest. You can learn more about her work at www.KayKestner.com.