Poetry readings lie thick as apples on the ground this time of year. Be sure to check out some mainstays of the Boston poetry scene: Tom Daley, Jill McDonough, and Doug Holder to name a few. Commemorate 9-11 with the BASH reading series put on by Black Ocean Press, one of the hippest scenes in town. Or catch Daniel Bouchard — the gentleman who sends out these listings via email — at Harvard just before Halloween.
If you’re in the mind to write some poetry of your own, consider attending my poetry workshop which runs every other Thursday this September and October. We’ll hit the open mic at the Chapter and Verse reading series in October, so come along if you’d like someone to cheer you on.
Thursday, September 10, 6 pm
“Performing Democracy: Private Citizens on the Public Stage”
Poet Edward Hirsch leads a discussion including playwright Rebekah Maggor, director and translator Bryan Doerries, and BC Law Professor Frank J. Garcia (presenting the work of James Boyd White), on theater’s vital role in enacting the questions and values that nourish and sustain democracy.
Clough Center Series on the Arts and the Culture of Democracy
Boston College
Devlin 101
Chestnut Hill, MA
Free
Thursday, September 10, 9 pm – midnight
Tu Anh Phan – Viet Poet
If You Can Feel It
You Can Speak It Open Mic
284 Armory St.
Jamaica Plain, MA
Friday, September 11, 7 pm
Jennifer Jean, Daniel Khalastchi, and Andy Stallings
Black Ocean BASH series
Brookline Booksmith
Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA
Friday, September 11, 7 pm
Courtney McDermott and Cammy Thomas
Dire Literary Series
Out of the Blue Too Art Gallery
541 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, September 12, 2-5 pm
Powow River Poets Celebrate Robert Frost : “100 Years of Frost”
Talks by Paul Mariani, Readings of Frost poems, and Rhina P. Espaillat on the intricacies of Spanish translations.
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Old South Church
29 Federal Street
Newburyport, MA
Free
Saturday, September 12, 7 pm
Daniel Khalastchi and Michelle Falkoff
The Tannery Reading Series
at Jabberwocky Bookshop
50 Water St.
Newburyport, MA
Free and open to the public
Sunday, September 13, 2 pm
Plein Air Poetry Walk
Louise, Berliner, Zachary Bos, Polly Brown, David Davis, Linda Fialkoff, Paula Goodwin, Lynn Horsky, Terry House, William Lenderking, Mary Pinard, Joanne DeSimone Reynolds, Susan Edwards Richmond, Hilary Sallick, Georgia Sassen
Old Frog Pond Farm & Studio
38 Eldridge Road
Harvard, MA
Sunday, September 13, 3 – 5 pm
Mark Doty and Lorna Knowles Blake
The Calliope Poetry Series
West Falmouth Library
575 West Falmouth Highway
Falmouth, MA
$25, search series name for reservations
Monday, September 14, 8:30 pm
Holly Anderson and Chris Brokaw with Gilmore Tamny
Cuisine en Locale
156 Highland Ave
Somerville, MA
Thursday, September 17, 7 pm
Jorie Graham
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, September 19, 6 pm
Simeon Berry with Sam Cha, Cecily Iddings, and Alison Powell
Monograph Launch Party
Out of the Blue Too Gallery
541 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA
Free
Sunday, September 20, 2 pm
Alice Lyons and Robert Ostrom
Brookline Poetry Series
Brookline Public Library Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline, MA
Monday, September 21, 6:30 pm
Peter Balakian, Diana Der-Hovanessian, and Krikor Der Hohannesian
A Celebration of Armenia
Main Lecture Hall
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, September 22, 7 pm
Chen Chen, Sarah Tourjee, and Margaret Winikates
U35 Poetry Reading
Marliave
10 Bosworth St.
Boston, MA
Tuesday, September 22, 7:30 pm
Thomas Lux
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Tuesday, September 22, 8 pm
Danielle Legros Georges
will present to students of the Harvard Advocate and the Harvard Haitian Alliance
Harvard University
21 South Street
Cambridge, MA
Open to public
Wednesday, September 23, 7:30 pm
Timotha Doane and Mitch Manning
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Thursday, September 24, 6 pm
When the Ghost Begins to Quicken: An Evening on W.B. Yeats
Panel: Ronan Noone, Carrie Preston, and Christopher Ricks
Performance with Kristi Artinian and Thomas Kee
Katzenberg Center, 3rd floor
871 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston University
Boston, MA
Thursday, September 24, 7 pm
Doug Holder
Book Launch / Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, September 26, 3:30-5 pm
Tom Daley
Book Launch and Celebration
Lexington Depot
13 Depot Square
Lexington, MA
$5
Saturday, September 26, 7:30 pm
A Reading for Ken Irby
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Sunday, September 27, 1 pm
Elizabeth Hanson, Philip Hasouris, Robert Knox, Moira Linehan, Mary Pinard and Richard Wiley
10th Annual Poetry Showcase
the Plymouth Guild 48th Annual Juried Art Show
Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North Street
Plymouth, MA
Tuesday, September 29, 6 pm
Chus Pato and Erin Moure
Introduction by Daniel Aguirre Oteiza
Edison Newman Room
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public
Tuesday, September 29, 7 pm
Rebecca Kaiser Gibson
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, September 30, 6:30 pm
Gregory Lawless and Anna Ross
Main Lecture Hall
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, October 1 – Sunday, October 4
Amherst Poetry Festival
Various Locations in Amherst, MA
More information here
Friday, October 2, 7 pm
Christopher DeWeese, Lucas de Lima, and Jackie Wang
Black Ocean BASH series
Brookline Booksmith
Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA
Friday, October 2, 8 pm
Stephanie Ford, Kevin McLellan, Annie Won
Small Animal Project Reading Series
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St.
Inman Square, Cambridge, MA
Free
Saturday, October 3, 1 pm
Michael McClure
Charles Olson Lecture
Cape Ann Museum
Pleasant Street,
Gloucester, MA
Saturday, October 3, 7 pm
Major Jackson
The Tannery Reading Series
at Jabberwocky Bookshop
50 Water St.
Newburyport, MA
Free and open to the public
Monday, October 5, 1:30 p.m.
Rebecca Kaiser Gibson
Tufts University
Tisch Library
35 Professors Row
Medford, MA
Friday, October 9, 7:30 pm
Nancy Esposito, Matthew Lippman, Karen Skolfield
Chapter and Verse Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South St.
Jamaica Plain, MA
Tuesday, October 13, 7 pm
Rebecca Kaiser Gibson
Trident Café and Booksellers
BAR Series
338 Newbury Street
Boston, MA
Wednesday, October 14, 6 pm
Eliza Griswold
Emerson Chapel, Divinity Hall
14 Divinity Ave.
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public
Thursday, October 15, 7:30 pm
Yusef Komunyakaa and Vanesha Pravin
Robert Lowell Memorial Reading Series
Boston University, The Castle
225 Bay State Rd
Boston, MA
Free and open to the public
Thursday, October 15, 7:30 pm
Amy Uyematsu
Neilson Browsing Room
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Friday, October 16, 7:30 pm (curators’ chat)
and
Friday, October 23, 7:30 pm (musical performance)
“Not to be Played: Exhibit, Talks, and Performancces”
Damon Krukowski and Keith Fullerton Whitman
Level 3, Sert Gallery
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public
Exhibit dates: Oct. 8-25, 2015
Sunday, October 18, 12 pm
Tomas O’Leary and Ellen Jane Powers
Open-mic
POETRY:The Art of Words
11 North St
Plymouth, MA
Free
Sunday, October 18, 2 pm
Kirun Kapur and Florence Ladd
Brookline Poetry Series
Brookline Public Library Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline, MA
Monday, October 19, 8 pm
Michael Klein and Kathy Nilsson
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3
Wednesday, October 21, 6 pm
Oral History Initiative: On John Wieners
Robert Dewhurst (moderator), Ammiel Alcalay, Jim Dunn, Raymond Foye, Fanny Howe, Gerrit Lansing & Anne Waldman
Thompson Room, Barker Center
12 Quincy Street
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public
Wednesday, October 21, 7:30 pm
Simon Pettet
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Friday, October 23, 7 pm
Simeon Berry, Carissa Halston, Randolph Pfaff
Belt It Out Reading Series
Courtside Sports Pub
291 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA
Free
Monday, October 26, 8 pm
Rick Barot and Chloe Garcia-Roberts
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3
Tuesday, October 27, 7:30 pm
Arda Collins
Paradise Room, Conference Center
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 pm
Major Jackson and Jill McDonough
Main Lecture Hall
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, October 28, 7:30 pm
J.D. Scrimgeour and Elisabeth Weiss
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Thursday, October 29, 6 pm
Rachel Blau DuPlessis and Nathaniel Mackey
Introductions by Patrick Pritchett and Daniel Bouchard
Edison Newman Room, Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public
Image credit: Dani Alvarez CC 2.0, via Flickr
Garden of Words 