EDITOR’S NOTE: Click here for April 2019 listings.
National Poetry Month lives up to its name with a boatload of readings in Boston and environs. Special shout-outs:
Martha Collins and Joan Houlihan in Newton (4/3)
Kazim Ali and Stephanie Burt in Cambridge (4/4)
Robbie Gamble and Helen Marie Casey in Newton (4/6)
Marge Piercy in Boston (4/7)
Louise Glück in Cambridge (4/12)
Anne Waldman and Meredith Monk in Providence, RI (4/13)
Gloria Mindock, Lori Desrosiers, and Dorothy Shubow Nelson in Somerville (4/14)
Layli Long Soldier in Providence, RI (4/26)
Tracy K. Smith in Providence, RI (4/27)
Lyn Hejinian in Cambridge (5/22)
Thanks as always to Daniel Bouchard (reading Saturday, May 12 at the MIT Press Bookstore) for compiling these listings.
Monday, April 2, 12 pm
Ewa Chrusciel
Common Room, CSWR
42 Francis Ave.
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, MA
Monday, April 2, 2 pm
J.D. Scrimgeour
Federal Building — Assembly Room
Middlesex Community College
50 Kearney Square
Lowell, MA
Monday, April 2, 7 pm
Catherine Stearns and Nate Klug
Book launch, reading, and reception
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Rd
Newton, MA
Monday, April 2, 8 pm
Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Gabriel Fried
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 3, 7 pm
Eileen Myles
Carling-Sorenson Theatre
Babson College
Wellesley, MA
Tuesday, April 3, 7 pm
Martha Collins and Joan Houlihan
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton, MA
Tuesday, April 3, 7 pm
Erica Funkhouser and Stephen Tapscott
MIT, Room 56-154
21 Ames Street
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 3, 7 – 9 pm
Cassandra Cleghorn, Helena Minton, Vivian Shipley, and Dianalee Velie
NEPC Members with New Books
Harvard-Yenching Library
2 Divinity Avenue
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 3, 7:30 pm
Five College Poetryfest
Alumnae House Conference Hall
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Wednesday, April 4, 6 pm
Kazim Ali and Stephanie Burt
Edison Newman Room, Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, April 4, 7 pm
K.T. Landon and Moira Linehan
Whitelam Books (a new bookstore!)
610 Main St.
Reading, MA
Wednesday, April 4, 7:30 pm
Timothy Donnelly and David Gullette
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Wednesday, April 4, 7 pm
Catherine (Kate) Stearns, Heather Bryant, and Lynne Viti
Wellesley Books
82 Central Street
Wellesley, MA
Thursday, April 5, 5:30 pm
Simone White
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown Street
Providence, RI
Thursday, April 5, 7 pm
Shauna Barbosa
in conversation with Joshua Bell
Brookline Booksmith
Havard Street
Coolidge Corner
Brookline, MA
Thursday, April 5, 7 pm
Rhina P. Espaillat, Alfred Nicol, Chris O’Carroll, and David Davis
BareWolf Brewing
12 Oakland St.
Amesbury, MA
Friday, April 6, 2-3 pm
Boston National Poetry Month Festival
Joan Houlihan, Charles Coe and George Kalogeris
The Commonwealth Room
Boston Public Library
Boston, MA
Friday, April 6, 7 pm
Beth Kress, Ellin Sarot, and Barbara Thomas
Poetry in the Parlor
The Old Manse
Concord, MA
Friday, April 6, 7 pm
Wyn Cooper book launch
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA
Friday, April 6, 7 pm
Robbie Gamble and Helen Marie Casey
followed by Open Mic
Workshop for Publishing Poets
West Suburban YMCA
276 Church St.
Newton, MA
Friday, April 6, 7:30 – 9:15 pm
Carla Schwartz
The Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston Street, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA
Saturday, April 7, 12 pm
Pilar Quintana, Marie Tobin, Amy Dryansky, Erica Charis-Molling, Hannah Fries, and Marge Piercy
Mass Poetry and the Montserrat College of Art
Belvidere Arcade
Prudential Center
Boston, MA
Saturday, April 7, 2 pm
Stephanie Burt
Poetry Walk at Rock Meadow Conservation Land
Mill Street
Belmont, MA
Saturday, April 7, 3 pm
Marcia Butler, Joan Wilking, and Nausheen Eusuf
Middle East Restaurant
472-480 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 7, 4 pm
Kevin Gallagher and Sam Cha
Poetry Readings at Outpost 186
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 7, 7:30 pm
Richard Cambridge, Michelle Soucy Martel and Tom MacDonald
Lilypad
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 7, 7:30 pm
Everett Hoagland and Candida Rose
Saxy Poetry, Jazzy Song
Cultural Center at Rocky Neck
Gloucester, MA
Sunday, April 8, 1-3 pm
Ben Berman and Barbara S Carlson
10th Anniversary Edition
Poetry: The Art Of Words
Plymouth Public Library/Otto Fehlow Room
132 South St
Plymouth, MA
Sunday, April 8, 3 pm
Ken Taylor and J. Peter Moore
photo collages by Ben & Jenny Watkins continues
Xit the Bear
90 Oxford Street
Somerville, MA
Sunday, April 8, 4 pm
Christina Davis, Wendy Eisenberg, Tanya Larkin, Sandra Lim, and Gilmore Tamny
Sunday Afternoon Rager of Poetry n’ Song
Arts at the Armory Cafe
191 Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA
Monday, April 9, 8 pm
Tom Sleigh and Javier Zamora
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 10, 7 pm
The Annual Faculty Reading at Boston University
Leslie Epstein, Ha Jin, Karl Kirchwey, Gail Mazur, Sigrid Nunez, Robert Pinsky, and alumna Arlyce Menzies (Poetry ’17)
BU Hillel House, 2nd floor
213 Bay State Rd
Boston, MA
Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 pm
Marie Howe and High School Prize Winners
Weinstein Auditorium
Wright Hall
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Wednesday, April 11, 6 pm
Fanny Howe and John Keene
Edison Newman Room, Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, April 11, 7:30 pm
Nausheen Eusuf and Matt Miller
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Thursday, April 12, 5:30 pm
Elizabeth Acevedo, Peggy Robles-Alvarado and Laureate Danielle Legros Georges
Latinx Poetry Reading in Celebration of National Poetry Month
Observatorio Cervantes, 2 Arrow Street, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 12, 5:30 pm
Sarah Galvin
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown Street
Providence, MA
Thursday, April 12, 3:30 pm
Erin Belieu
Hirsh Reading Room
Tisch Library
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Thursday, April 12, 5 pm
Louise Glück
Thompson Room , Barker Center
Harvard University
12 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 12, 7 pm
Marguerite Bouvard, Julia Carlson and Brad Rose
Cervena Barva Press Reading Series
Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Avenue, Basement B8
Somerville, MA
Friday, April 13, time TBD
Christine Finn on the recordings of Seamus Heaney
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Friday, April 13, 5 pm
Tyehimba Jess
MIT, Room 3-133 (note: new room since last email listing)
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA
Friday, April 13, 7 pm
Anne Waldman and Meredith Monk
Studio 1, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
154 Angell Street
Providence, RI
Friday, April 13, 7:30 pm
Kevin Gallagher, Kim Garcia, and Tino Villanueva
Chapter and Verse Literary Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
Jamaica Plain, MA
Saturday, April 14, 3 pm (Rescheduled from March 3)
Juan Matos and Rhina Espaillat
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Newburyport Public Library
94 State Street
Newburyport, MA
Free and open to the public
Saturday, April 14, 2 – 3:30 pm
Carla Schwartz and Masada Jones
Tewksbury Public Library
300 Chandler Street
Tewksbury, MA
Saturday, April 14, 2-4 pm
David Ferry, Jennifer Barber, Danielle Georges, Emmanuel Merle, and Marjorie Salvodon
French translators: Peter Brown, Emmanuel Merle, and Caroline Talpe
Mildred F. Sawyer Library, 3rd floor
73 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
Saturday, April 14, 2 pm
Gloria Mindock, Lori Desrosiers, and Dorothy Shubow Nelson
Anthology Release (Glass Lyre Press): Carrying the Branch, Poets in Search of Peace
Arts at the Armory Cervena Barva Press Studio, Basement, B8
191 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA
Sunday, April 15, 2 pm
Andrea Cohen and Lloyd Schwartz
The Brookline Poetry Series
The Brookline Public Library Main Branch
361 Washington Street
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA
Tuesday, April 17, 7 pm
Anna M. Warrock, Lainie Senechal, and Neil Silberblatt
First and Last Word Poetry Series
Arts at the Armory Cafe
191 Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA
Tuesday, April 17, 7:30 pm
Jane Hirshfield and Natasha Hakimi
Introduced by Robert Pinsky
The Robert Lowell Memorial Poetry Reading Series
Richards-Roosevelt Room, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center
Mugar Library
Boston University
771 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA
Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 pm
Beth Woodcome
Unearthed Song and Poetry
Home.stead Bakery and Cafe
1448 Dorchester Ave.
Fields Corner, Dorchester, MA
Thursday, April 19, 7 pm
Tom Laaser and Joe Kebartas
and open mic
Midnight Voices sponsored by Veterans for Peace
Friends Service Center
5 Longfellow Park (across from Longfellow House)
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 19, 7 pm
Ellendra Proffer Teasley
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 19, 7 pm
Matthew Dickman and Jenny Xiel
Brookline Booksmith
Havard Street
Coolidge Corner
Brookline, MA
Thursday, April 19, 7 – 9 pm
Carla Schwartz and Heather Corbally Bryant
3rd Thursday Poetry
Gallery 55
55 S. Main Street
Natick, MA
Thursday, April 19, 7 pm
Constellations: a Journal of Poetry and Fiction
launch of 7th issue
Somerville Library
Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA
Thursday, April 19
Amy Sauber, Kristen Bulger, and Noah Burton
Lily Pad
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 21, 6 pm
Anthony D’Aries and Amy Monticello
IAWA in Boston Presents
Open Mic sign ups at 5:45
I Am Books
189 North Street
Boston, MA
Monday, April 23, 7 pm
David Ferry
Sawyer library
Suffolk University
73 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
Monday, April 23, 8 pm
Robin Becker and Erica Funkhouser
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 24, 7:30 pm
Favorite Poem Project Reading
Weinstein Auditorium
Wright Hall
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 pm
Matt Duggan, Natalie Shapero, and Donald Vincent
Community Room
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, April 25, 7:30 pm
Joan Houlihan and Fred Marchant
The Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Thursday, April 26, 5:30 pm
Layli Long Soldier
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown Street
Providence, RI
Thursday, April 26, 7 pm
Susan Eisenberg
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 26, 7 – 9 pm
Barbara Siegel Carlson
Rozzie Reads Poetry and Open Mic
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale, MA
Friday, April 27, 7 pm
Luljeta Lleshanaku with translator Ani Gjika
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Friday, April 27, Time TBA
Tracy K. Smith
Moses Brown School
250 Lloyd Avenue
Providence, RI
Saturday, April 28, 2 pm
Afaa Michael Weaver and Rich Michelson
A Conversation on Race Through Poetry
Falmouth Public Library
300 Main Street
Falmouth, MA
Saturday, April 28, 3:30 pm
Giles Li
Spoken word poems/and History of Boston’s Chinatown
Kennedy Room
Omni Parker Hotel
60 School Street
Boston, MA
Saturday, April 28, 4 pm
Suzanne Zelazo, Adam Dickinson, and John Canaday
The MIT Press Bookstore
301 Mass. Ave.
Cambridge, MA
Sunday, April 29, 3 pm
Jana Prikryl
Poetry at the Library Series
Sponsored by the Friends of the Library
Concord Free Public Library
129 Main Street
Concord, MA
Monday, April 30, 7 pm
Kiki Petrosino and Lauren Haldeman
(visiting from Kentucky and Iowa)
MassArt, Huntington Room
Design and Media Center
621 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA
Monday, April 30, 8 pm
Tarfia Faizullah and Jana Prikryl
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, May 1, 12:30 pm
Susan Eisenberg
Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center
515 South Street
Waltham, MA
Thursday, May 3, 7 pm
Anna M. Warrock and Janet MacFadyen
Collected Poets Series
Mocha Maya’s Coffee House
47 Bridge St
Shelburne Falls, MA
Friday, May 4, 7 pm
Heather Nelson and Alan Albert
followed by Open Mic
Workshop for Publishing Poets
West Suburban YMCA
276 Church St.
Newton, MA
Friday, May 4, 7 pm
Danny Shot and Melissa Goodrum
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, May 5, 4 pm
Matvei Yankelevich, Lisa Fishman, and Laynie Browne
The MIT Press Bookstore
301 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, May 5, 4 pm
Eliot Cardinaux and Gillian Devereux
Poetry Readings at Outpost 186
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA
Friday, May 11, 6 – 8 pm
Carla Schwartz
reads plant-inspired poetry, 6:45
N.E. Wildflower Society Benefit
Garden in the Woods
180 Hemenway Road
Framingham, MA
$20 members, $25 non
Sunday, May 6, 1:30 pm
Krikor der Hohannesian And Susan Mahan
Poetry: The Art Of Words
Plymouth Public Library/Otto Fehlow Room
132 South St
Plymouth, MA
Monday, May 7, 8 pm
Olga Broumas and Jamais Vue
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, May 9, 7 pm
Simeon Berry, John Canaday, and Susan Edwards Richmond
Poets and Pints Reading Series
Aeronaut Brewing Company
14 Tyler Street
Somerville, MA
Wednesday, May 9, 7 pm
Joan Houlihan
Hastings Room Reading Series
First Church Cambridge
11 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, May 10, 6:30 pm
Martha Collins and Fred Marchant
Andover Bookstore
74 Main Street
Andover, MA
Saturday, May 12, 4 pm
Daniel Bouchard and Rachel Blau DuPlessis
The MIT Press Bookstore
301 Mass. Ave.
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, May 12, 3 pm
Natalie Shapero and Don Kimball
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Newburyport Public Library
94 State Street
Newburyport, MA
Wednesday, May 16, 7:30 pm
Porsha Olayiwola
Unearthed Song and Poetry
Home.stead Bakery and Cafe
1448 Dorchester Ave.
Fields Corner, Dorchester, MA
Thursday, May 17, 4 pm
Colin Harrington
The Williams Bookstore
81 Spring St.
Williamstown, MA
Thursday, May 17, 6 pm
Janet MacFadyen and David Giannini
The Williams Bookstore
81 Spring St.
Williamstown, MA
Thursday, May 17, 7 pm
David Blair, Tanya Larkin, and Tom Yuill
Cervena Barva Press Reading Series
Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA
$3
Friday, May 18, 7:30 pm
Joan Houlihan
Lily Poetry Salon
9 Cottage Ave
Needham Heights
Needham, MA
Sunday, May 20, 2 pm
A. Van Jordan and Maya Phillips
The Brookline Poetry Series
The Brookline Public Library Main Branch
361 Washington Street
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA
Tuesday, May 22, 7 pm
Lyn Hejinian
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, May 24, 7 – 9 pm
James Whitley and Maria Termini
Rozzie Reads Poetry and Open Mic
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale, MA
Saturday, May 26, 1:30
John Burroughs, Stephen Haven, and Gloria Mindock
Cervena Barva Press Reading Series
Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Avenue/Basement, B8
Somerville, MA
Cherry blossoms photo credit: Nana B. Agyel via Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 (modified by Frances Donovan)
Garden of Words 