NOTE: You can find an updated version of these listings here.
April is National Poetry Month, which means that readings and classes abound. Here are my top picks:
- If you’re in Cambridge/Somerville (aka Camberville), I recommend checking out a reading with Cervena Barva Press and First and Last Word Poetry at Arts at the Armory. Gloria Mindock’s press is a Boston institution.
- The Boston Public Library holds a festival April 7-10 with oodles of poets and musicians and free admission. Boston’s own national slam winner Regie Gibson headlines.
- If you’re in the JP/Roslindale area, be sure to check out the Rozzi Reads open mic TOMORROW, March 31, 7pm, at Roslindale House, just down the street from the library.
- I’m conducting a one-time workshop at the Roslindale Public Library on Saturday, April 23, 12 noon to 1:45 pm. In my unbiased opinion, you’ll have a great time.
- If you’re near Salem, the Mass Poetry Festival puts the cherry on the poetry sundae with its end-of-the-month conference. This year it’s April 29 to March 1.
Listings follow. All venues are in Massachusetts (USA) unless otherwise noted:
Thursday, March 31, 7 pm
Lloyd Schwartz, David Blair and Joseph Torra
Arts at the Armory
Cervena Barva Press Studio,
Basement B8
191 Highland Street
Somerville
Thursday, March 31, 7 pm
Rozzie Reads Poetry
T. Michael Sullivan, Audrey Henderson, and open mike
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale
Friday, April 1, 7 pm
Martin Espada
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge
Sunday, April 3, 2:30 pm
Kay Harrington and other members
20th Annual Reading of the Wayland Poetry Workshop
Wayland Public Library
5 Concord Rd
Wayland
Monday, April 4, 4 pm
Donald Wellman
Roger Williams University
Mary Tefft White Center
Bristol, RI
Monday, April 4, 7 pm
NEPC Contest Winners
Dolores Hayden, Ellin Sarot, Jane Attanucci, and Scott Reuscher
Yenching Library Common Room
Harvard University
Cambridge
Monday, April 4, 7pm
Kathleen Spivack
Porter Square Books
Cambridge
Monday, April 4, 7 pm
David Ferry
Suffolk University Poetry Center, Sawyer Library
73 Tremont Street
Boston
Monday, April 4, 7 pm
Miles Hodges
Stone Soup Poetry
Out of the Blue Too Art Gallery
Cambridge
Monday, April 4, 7 pm
Lori Kagan and Grey Held
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton
Tuesday, April 5, 6:30 pm
Carrie Bennett and David Blair
Pangyrus Poetry Reading
MassArt, Kennedy Conference and Lounge
2nd Floor, Kennedy Building,
621 Huntington Avenue
(building on the corner of Huntington and Longwood, with Peets Coffee)
Boston
Tuesday, April 5, 7 pm
The Annual Faculty Reading at Boston University
featuring Robert Pinsky, Ha Jin, Jennifer Haigh, Sigrid Nunez, Leslie Epstein, Karl Kirchwey, Maggie Dietz, and poetry alum Mike Brokos
BU Hillel House, 4th Floor
213 Bay State Road
Boston
Wednesday, April 6, 7:30 pm
Jay Featherstone and Carol Seitchik
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester
Thursday, April 7, 6 pm
Martin Corless-Smith
introduced by Boyd Nielson
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge
April 8, 9, 10
16th Annual Boston National Poetry Month Festival
Boston Public Library
Boston
Friday, April 8, 7:30 pm
Special Event of 50th Anniversary of Hanging Loose Press:
Robert Hershon, Caroline Knox, Dick Lourie, Pablo Medina, and Mark Pawlak
Chapter and Verse
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
Jamaica Plain Centre (next to the Monument)
Friday, April 8, 8 pm
Kate Leary, Phil Temples, and Elisabeth Weiss
Dire Literary Reading Series
Out of the Blue Art Gallery
541 Mass. Ave.
Cambridge
Saturday, April 9, 10:30 am
Alan Feldman and Jeffrey Harrison
Morse Institute Library
14 East Central Street
Natick
Sunday, April 10, 3 pm
Maggie Dietz and Todd Hearon
Poetry at the Library Series
Concord Free Public Library
Sponsored by the Friends of the Library
Followed by Q&A and book signing reception
129 Main St.
Concord
Monday, April 11, 8 pm
Martha Collins and Cathy Park Hong
Blacksmith House
56 Brattle
Cambridge
Tuesday, April 12, 3:30-5pm
Richard Blanco
Hirsh Reading Room
Tisch Library
Tufts University
Wednesday, April 13, 6 pm
An Evening of Documentary Poetry
Simone John and BU students Omolara Adekeye, Sarah Hirsch, Maggie Markham, Kyler Sumter
Boston University
Photonics Building
8 St. Mary’s St.
Room 206
Boston
Wednesday, April 13, 7:30 pm
Denise Bergman and Nicole Schoel
Rocky Neck Cultural Center
6 Wonson Street
Gloucester
Wednesday, April 13, 7:30 pm
Tribute to C.D. Wright
Robert Lowell Memorial Reading Series
Maggie Dietz, Jorie Graham, Heather Green, Ha Jin, Karl Kirchwey, Gail Mazur, and Robert Pinsky
Boston University, The Castle
225 Bay State Rd
Boston
Thursday, April 14, 6 pm
Dan Beachy-Quick and Jen Bervin
Edison Newman Room, Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge
Friday, April 15, 7 pm
Sharon Bryan, Julie Ann Otis, and Teresa Cader
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge
Sunday, April 17, 12 pm
Lori Desrosiers and John Ronan
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North Street
Plymouth
Sunday, April 17, 2:00 pm
Henri Cole and Jordan Zandi
Main Lecture Hall
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge
Sunday, April 17, 2 – 4 pm
Alan Albert and Carla Schwartz
Brookline Poetry Series
Brookline Public Library Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline
Tuesday, April 19, 6:30 pm
Ross Gay, Sarah Howe, and Alice Lyons
Main Lecture Hall
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge
Tuesday, April 19, 7 pm
Jane Attanucci, Kimberly G. Jackson, and Florence Ladd
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge
Tuesday, April 19, 7 pm
David Blair, Tanya Larkin, January O’Neil, Julia Story
Trident Booksellers & Cafe
338 Newbury Street
Boston
Wednesday, April 20, 7:30 pm
Timotha Doane
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester
Saturday, April 23, 1 pm
Eileen Myles
About Boston: Reading and Conversation
with Jackie Wang
Menschell Hall
Harvard Art Museums
Quincy Street
Cambridge
Sunday, April 24, 3 pm
Alice Kociemba and Moira Linehan
Eight Cousins Bookstore
189 Main St.
Falmouth, MA
Monday, April 25, 8 pm
Gail Mazur and Greg Pardlo
Blacksmith House
56 Brattle
Cambridge
Tuesday, April 26, 12 pm
Rebecca Kaiser Gibson
Boston Athenæum
10 ½ Beacon Street
Boston
Tuesday, April 26, 2:30 pm
Mary Ruefle
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI
Tuesday, April 26, 7 pm
Kristine Doll and Peter Thabit Jones
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge
Tuesday, April 26, 7 pm
Denise Bergman, Kathleen Aguero, Danielle Legros Georges
Central Square Branch
Cambridge Public Library
45 Pearl Street
Cambridge
Wednesday, April 27, 6:30 pm
Rebecca Morgan Frank, Megan Grumbling, and Lynn Potts
Main Lecture Hall
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge
Wednesday, April 27, 7:30 pm
CA Conrad
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester
Thursday, April 28, 6 pm [to be confirmed]
Matvei Yankelevich
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge
Thursday, April 28, 6:30 pm
The Glories of Poetry in Translation
featuring Rhina P. Espaillat, David Ferry, and Ellen Doré Watson, hosted by Robert Pinsky
Poetry Society of America & Mass Poetry
First Parish Church, Helverson Parlor
Three Church Street (Harvard Square)
Cambridge
Thursday, April 28, 7 pm
Mariève Rugo, Wendy Drexler, Grey Held
Trident Booksellers & Café
338 Newbury Street
Boston
Saturday April 30, 8:30-10:00 AM
Newburyport Literary Festival
“Breakfast with the Poets” free coffee and a reading featuring Powow River Poets Midge Goldberg, A.M. Juster, Don Kimball, Alfred Nicol, Anton Yankovlev.
Central Congregational Church Social Hall
14 Titcomb Street
Newburyport
Saturday April 30, 10 am — 4 pm
Newburyport Literary Festival
featuring poets William Baer, Bruce Bennett, Michael Cantor, Bill Coyle, Erica Dawson, Daniel Mark Epstein, Rhina Espaillat, Kirun Kapur, April Lindner, Jay Parini, Midge Goldberg, A. M. Juster, Don Kimball, Alfred Nicol, and Anton Yakovlev.
Central Congregational Church Social Hall
14 Titcomb Street
Newburyport
Garden of Words 