National Poetry Month offers a dizzying array of events across the nation, but especially in Boston. Updated listings appear below. You can see my teacher Barbara Helfgott Hyett read alongside an old poet-friend Nicole Terez Dutton at the Newton Free Library on Tuesday, April 12 at 7pm. You can meet me in person at the Roslindale Public Library on Saturday, April 23 at noon. And if you have the time, inclination, and stamina, you can attend at least one reading on just about every day this month. All readings are in Mass unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, April 7, 6 pm
Martin Corless-Smith
introduced by Boyd Nielson
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge
Thursday, April 7, 7 pm
Cammy Thomas, Sophia Yee, Ros Zimmermann
National Poetry Month Celebration
Cary Memorial Library
1874 Mass. Ave.
Lexington
Friday 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
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, 7-9pm
January O’Neil, Nicole Terez Dutton, Barbara Helfgott Hyett
Newton Free Library
Newton
Tuesday, April 12, 3:30-5pm
Richard Blanco
Hirsh Reading Room
Tisch Library
Tufts University
Tuesday, April 12, 6 pm
Inaugural Seamus Heaney Literary Spraoi [spree]
Featuring Fred Marchant
Maxwell Library Lecture Hall, Room 013
Bridgewater State University
10 Shaw Road
Bridgewater, MA
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 pm
Dan Beachy-Quick and Tien-yi Lee
Harvard Review 48
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge
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
Thursday, April 14, 7 pm
Gary Whited, Kim Garcia, Alan Albert, and Jim Henle
Trident Booksellers & Café
338 Newbury Street
Boston
Friday, April 15, 7 pm
Sharon Bryan, Julie Ann Otis, and Teresa Cader
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge
Saturday, April 16, 7 pm
Andrey Gritsman, Fred Marchant, and Pui Ying Wong
Cervena Barva Press Reading Series
Arts at the Armory
Cervena Barva Press Studio, Basement B8
191 Highland Avenue
Somerville
$3
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
Sunday, April 17, 3 – 5 pm
Maggie Cleveland, Terry S. Johnson, and David R. Surette
West Falmouth Library featuring
Calliope Poetry Series
575 West Falmouth Highway
Falmouth, MA
Donation: $5. Refreshments provided
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, 12 pm
Frances Donovan
Roslindale Public Library
4246 Washington Street
Roslindale
Saturday, April 23, 1 pm
Eileen Myles
About Boston: Reading and Conversation
with Jackie Wang
Menschell Hall
Harvard Art Museums
Quincy Street
Cambridge
Saturday, April 23, 6 – 8:30 pm
Sarah Blake, David Blair, Khari Alamin, Kevin Cutrer
Mr. Hip Presents: National Poetry Month Celebration
Musical Guest: The Love Experiment: D’Vibes & Philly G
Uforge Gallery
767 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain
$8
Saturday April 23, 7:30 pm
Shall I Compare Thee: Poets celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death
With Ruth Ballard, Linda Bamber, Brad Clompus, Steven Cramer, Tom Daley, Regie Gibson, Joan Houlihan, Kathy Nilsson, Joyce Swagerty, Cammy Thomas, and Jonathan Weinert
Sponsored by Munroe Saturday Nights
First Parish Church
7 Harrington Road
Lexington
Sunday, April 24, 3 pm
Alice Kociemba and Moira Linehan
Eight Cousins Bookstore
189 Main St.
Falmouth, MA
Sunday, April 24, 4 pm
Danielle Legros Georges and Annie Pluto
Cohasset’s Paul Pratt Memorial Library
35 Ripley Rd
Cohasset, 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
Tuesday, April 26, 7 pm
Kristine Doll and Peter Thabit Jones
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge
Tuesday, April 26, 6 pm
Lucia Perillo
Thompson Room
Barker Center
Quincy Street
Harvard University
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, 6:30 pm
Elysia Smith and August Smith, with poets from Cohasset Middle-High School grades 6-12
Cohasset’s Paul Pratt Memorial Library
35 Ripley Rd.
Cohasset, MA
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
Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1
Massachusetts Poetry Festival
(please web-search the festival name for detail on readings and panels, etc.)
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 Yakovlev
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
Sunday, May 1, 12 pm
Ben Berman and Marguerite Bouvard
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North Street
Plymouth
Sunday, May 1, 1 pm
The 14th Annual Greater Newburyport Favorite Poem Project
(Favorite poems read by diverse members of the community)
Firehouse Center for the Arts
Market Square
Newburyport
Garden of Words 