National Poetry Month means an explosion of poetry readings in Boston and environs. The Mass Poetry Festival is on hiatus this year as they work with Grub Street and the Harvard Bookstore to open the new Narrative Arts Center in South Boston’s Seaport District. The Boston Public Library is holding its own festival April 3-7 though–details below.
Thanks as always to Daniel Bouchard for compiling these listings. Check out his new book Spider Drop from Subpress Collective.
Of special note:
- Jericho Brown at Babson, April 2
- National Poetry Month Festival with 70+ poets at the BPL, April 3-7
- Robert Pinsky at Grolier in Cambridge, April 6
- Martha Collins at Porter Square Books, April 25
- Newburyport Literary Festival, April 27
- and yours truly (Frances Donovan), reading at the Solidarity Salon at Third Life Studio in Union Square, Somerville, April 27.
Monday, April 1, 8 pm
Bob Hicok and Matthew Lippman
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle St.
Cambridge, MA
$3
Tuesday, April 2, 7 pm
George Kalogeris
at the Grolier Poetry Bookshop
6 Plympton St.
Cambridge, MA
$10
Tuesday, April 2, 7 pm
Jericho Brown
Thompson Visiting Poet Series
Sorenson Theatre
Babson College
Wellesley, MA
April 3-7, Boston National Poetry Month Festival
70-plus poets (and musicians). Three Open Mics, Panel Discussions & more. Featuring David Ferry, Maggie Dietz, Fred Marchant, Kathleen Spivack, Lloyd Schwartz, Jennifer Barber, Charles Coe, CD Collins, Michael Casey, Lucy Holstedt, Dan Tobin, Nausheen Eusuf, and Richard Hoffman.
Boston Public Library, Copley Square & other locations
Boston, MA
Wednesday, April 3, 6 pm – 7 pm
January Gill O’Neil
Bedlam Book Cafe
138 Green St. Suite 1
Worcester, MA
Wednesday, April 3, 7:30 pm
Joseph Torra and Yonghong Gu
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Friday, April 5, 7 pm
Connemara Wadsworth and Jonathan Aibel
and Open Mic
West Suburban YMCA
276 Church Street
Newton, MA
Friday, April 5, 7:30 pm
Pablo Medina
Unearthed Song & Poetry
Homestead Bakery & Cafe
1448 Dorchester Ave.
Fields Corner, Dorchester, MA
Saturday, April 6, 4 pm
Kate Colby, Darcie Dennigan, and Natalie Shapero
MIT Press Bookstore
301 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 6, 7 pm
Robert Pinsky
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Historic Hooper Lee-Nichols House
159 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
Sunday, April 7, 1 – 3:30 pm
C D Collins and Tomas O’Leary
Poetry: The Art Of Words 11 Anniversary Celebration
Plymouth Public Library/Otto Fehlow Room
132 South St
Plymouth, MA
Sunday, April 7, 4:30 pm
Favorite Poem Event
The Loom, Poetry in Harrisville
St. Denis (former) Church 23 Church Street
Harrisville, NH
Monday, April 8, 7:30 pm
Richard Blanco
Lesley University
Washburn Auditorium
10 Phillips Place
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, April 9, 7 pm
David Ferry
Suffolk University Poetry Center
73 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
Tuesday, April 9, 7:30 pm
Jenny George and the winners of the High School Prize
Alumnae House Conference Room
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Wednesday, April 10, 6 pm
Fred Moten
introduced by Teju Cole
Edison Newman Room
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday April 10, 7 pm
Denise Bergman
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 11, 7:30 pm
Mark Halliday and Heather Green
The Robert Lowell Memorial Lecture series
Richards-Roosevelt Room, Mugar Library, First Floor
771 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA
Friday, April 12 – Saturday, April 13
Peter Hale and Simon Pettet
Beat Poetry Weekend
Bedlam Book Cafe
138 Green St.
Worcester, MA
Friday, April 12, 7:30 pm
Hilary Sallick, Natalie Shapero, and Lindsay Turner
Chapter and Verse Literary Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
Jamaica Plain, MA
Saturday, April 13, 2 pm
Susan Eisenberg
Provincetown Public Library
356 Commercial Street
Provincetown, MA
Saturday, April 13, 7:30 pm
Zvi A. Sesling
plus open mic
Bull Run
Shirley, MA
Saturday, April 13, 4-6 pm
Bill Lessard and Rob Chalfen
Outpost 186
186 Hampshire Street
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 13, 7 pm
Elisa Gabbert, Chris Tonelli, and Laura van den Berg
Trident Booksellers and Cafe
338 Newbury St.
Boston, MA
Sunday, April 14, 2 pm
Sara Backer, Deborah Melone, William Orem, Ann Taylor
(followed by Open Mic)
New England Poetry Club
Yenching Library Common Room
2 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA
Sunday, April 14, 2:30 pm
Howard Faerstein and John Hodgen
Del Rossi’s Trattoria
Route 137N
Dublin, NH
Sunday, April 14, 3 pm
DeWitt Henry and Dzvinia Orlowsky
Poetry and Lyrical Essays
Concord Poetry at the Library Series
Sponsored by The Friends of the Library
Concord Free Public Library
129 Main St.
Concord, MA
Monday, April 15, 6 pm
Oral History Initiative: On Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop
moderated by Steve Evans
Thompson Room
Barker Center
12 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 18, 5:30 pm
Alice Notley
Brown University
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI
Tuesday, April 23, 7:30 pm
Jane Hirshfield
Weinstein Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Wednesday, April 24, 5:15 pm
Susan Howe
Common Room
CSWR
42 Francis Ave.
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 25, 7 pm
Celebration of Joseph DeRoche, Ceremonial Entries
Read by Kevin Gallagher, Martha Collins, Anna M. Warrock
Porter Square Books, 25 White Street
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, April 25, 7 pm
Judy Katz-Levine, Conrad Squires
Rozzie Reads Poetry and Open Mic
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale, MA
Thursday, April 25,
Martha Collins, Anna Warrock, and Kevin Gallagher
Porter Square Books
25 White Way
Cambridge, MA
Sunday, April 26, 2:15 pm
Pam Bernard, Jim Beschta, Pat Fargnoli, Terry Farish. John Hodgen, Rodger Martin, Diane Mulligan, Susan Roney-O’Brien
30th Annual Monadnock Pastoral Poets Reading
Barbara C. Harris Center
Lakefront House
Greenfield, NH
followed by closing banquet: $20
Saturday, April 27, 8:30 am — 4 pm
Newburyport Literary Festival Poetry Events
Ned Balbo, Mary Ann Corbett, David Davis, Rhina Espaillat, Nausheen Eusuf, David Ferry, Daniel Hall, Major Jackson, A.M. Juster, Sydney Lea, January O’Neill, Jose Edmundo Ocampo Reyes, Mary Jo Salter, Toni Treadway, and Anton Yakovlev
Central Congregational Church Social Hall
14 Titcomb Street
Newburyport, MA
Saturday, April 27, 3:30 pm
Susan Eisenberg
The School Street Sessions
Omni Parker House, Kennedy Room, followed by Parker’s Bar
60 School St.
Boston, MA
Saturday, April 27, 4 – 6 pm
Raquel Balboni and Jade Alexis Danger Wollin
Outpost 186
186 Hampshire Street
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 27, 7 – 9 pm
Robert Carr, Frances Donovan, and Kelly DuMar
Solidarity Salon
Third Life Studio
33 Union Square
Somerville, MA
$5
Sunday, April 28, 2:30 pm
Trish Crapo and Janet MacFadyen
Literary Rendezvous Poetry and Open Mic
The Rendezvous
78 3rd St.
Turners Falls, MA
Monday, April 29, 6:30 pm
Cheryl Savageau, Ellen LaFleche, Sally Bellerose, and Steven Riel
Franco-American Words That Sing, That Matter Jacob Edwards Library
236 Main St.
Southbridge, MA
Garden of Words 