Late February and March 2016 Boston Area Poetry Readings

It’s a balmy 50 degrees in Boston, which means that this evening we’ll have a rainstorm instead of a blizzard. April may be the cruelest month in England, but February is full of spiteful surprises in Boston. Still, the snowdrifts barely reach our knees and the days are growing exponentially longer. Celebrate with some poetry and some hot tea, while it’s still in season. All readings are in Massachusetts unless otherwise specified.

Saturday, February 20, 6:30 pm
Pablo Medina, Jennifer Barber, Eleanor Goodman, and Sam Cha
reading original works and new translations
Us & Them: Boston
Arts @ the Armory Cafe
191 Highland Ave #1A
Somerville

See all listings

Boston Area Poetry Readings for February 2016

Imbolc has come and gone and the days are getting longer. Celebrate the first stirrings of spring with a little poetry. Below are updated listings for February 2016 poetry readings in Boston, Massachusetts and environs. All readings are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted.

Friday, February 5, 7 pm
Jen Grow, Kathy Flann, and Gint Aras
Out of the Blue Art Gallery Too
541 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge
See more listings

Boston Area Poetry Readings for January and February 2016

January always feels like a holiday hangover to me. So far, the temperatures are bracing cold and the skies clear — two good signs after last February’s record snowfalls. Please Skadi, send us enough snow for snowshoeing and not enough for epic shoveling. Daniel Bouchard sets us back on the path of poetry with the listings below. All locations are in Massachusetts (USA) unless otherwise noted.

My poetry workshop in Roslindale, MA also reconvenes in February. Priced for starving poets, focused on generating new work.

Friday, January 8, 7:30 pm
Dan Johnson, Deborah Melone, and Jan Schreiber
Chapter and Verse
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
Jamaica Plain Centre

Saturday January 9, 3 pm
Elizabeth J. Coleman and David Berman
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Newburyport Public Library
94 State Street
Newburyport, MA
Free and open to the public

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for January and February 2016”

Boston Area Poetry Readings for December 2015

These listings are compiled by Daniel Bouchard. Friday, December 11 is the very last of the BASH Reading Series by Black Ocean Press at Brookline Booksmith. And make sure to check out the Brookline Public Library on Sunday, December 20, where the open mic is as high-quality as the featured reader.

Thursday, December 3, 7 pm
David Miller, Sandra Storey and open mic
Rozzie Reads
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale, MA Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for December 2015”

Boston Area Poetry Readings for October and November 2015

I usually post only the upcoming month’s reading so as not to overwhelm you, gentle reader. But Daniel Bouchard, the poet who compiles these listings, sends dates much farther into the future. Time moves faster in the fall in Boston, so here’s a cornucopia of readings for the next six weeks. Get some dates on your calendar now before it’s full of harvest festivals, Halloween parties, and turkey dinners.

Thursday, October 15, 7 pm
Central Square Press Editor Enzo Silon Surin and Afaa Micheal Weaver
Trident Café and Booksellers
Boston Poet Spotlight Series
338 Newbury Street
Boston, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for October and November 2015”

Poetry Reading: Small Animal Project this Friday October 2 in Cambridge, MA

Stephanie Ford, Kevin McLellan, Annie Won

Small Animal Project invites you to its first fall reading, featuring Stephanie Ford, Kevin McLellan, and Annie Won.

Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA
Friday, October 2
8:00 pm (doors open at 7:45)

About the readers 

STEPHANIE FORD is the author of All Pilgrim, forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2015. Her poems have appeared in Boston Review, Fence, Tin House, Harvard Review, Gulf Coast, and many other journals. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, she now lives in Los Angeles.

KEVIN MCLELLAN is the author of Tributary (Barrow Street) and the chapbook Round Trip (Seven Kitchens), a collaborative series of poems with numerous women poets. The chapbook Shoes on a Wire (Split Oak Press) and the book arts project [box] (Small Po[r]rtions) are both forthcoming. THRUSH Poetry Journal and The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts nominated his writing for the Pushcart Prize. Kevin has taught poetry workshops at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and at the University of Rhode Island.

ANNIE WON is a poet, yoga teacher, and medicinal chemist. She is a Kundiman Fellow and a Juniper Writing Institute scholarship recipient. Her chapbook with Brenda Iijima,Once Upon a Building Block, was recently published with Horse Less Press (2014) and individual chapbook, so i can sleep, is forthcoming from Nous-Zot Press (2015). Her work has appeared in or is soon to appear in the following venues: New Delta Review, Entropy, Delirious Hem, TheThePoetry, TENDE RLION, Similar:Peaks::, and others. Her critical reviews can be seen at American Microreviews and Interviews.

Directions

Outpost 186 is located on Hampshire Street, between Prospect & Amory streets. There’s metered parking on both Hampshire & Cambridge streets, as well as permit parking on the side streets nearby.

The closest T stop is Central Square on the red line. Exit station & walk up Prospect 0.5 miles to Hampshire Street (intersection with 7-Eleven & Hess). Take a left onto Hampshire. Take first left onto path just behind 7-Eleven & walk to the brown shingled house behind another (bigger) brown shingled house.

The 83 and 91 buses run from Central Square & stop at the intersection of Prospect & Hampshire.

The 69 bus runs between Lechmere & Harvard Square, with a stop at the intersection of Cambridge & Hampshire, just in front of 1369 coffee shop.

Contact/Other

Jessica Bozek at smallanimalproject@gmail.com
See also http://smallanimalproject.tumblr.com/readings

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Editor’s Note: This notice is re-posted from the Small Animal Project email newsletter. To subscribe, email Jessica Bozek at smallanimalproject@gmail.com.

Boston Area Poetry Readings for August and September 2015

Back-to-school season is upon us, which means that Daniel Bouchard is once again sending around notices of poetry readings in Boston, Massachusetts and environs. Last weekend was the annual Boston Poetry Marathon at Outpost 186 in Cambridge. Get advance notice of next year’s marathon on their Tumblr site.

On a related note, the fall term of my poetry workshop in Roslindale begins in late September. Fill out the contact form on this page for more details.

Tuesday, August 18, 7 pm
Myles Gordon, Tomas O’Leary, and Marieve Rugo
First and Last Word Poetry Series
Center for the Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA
$4

Wednesday, August 26, 7 pm
Tomas O’Leary and Greg Delanty
Seamus Heaney Tribute Reading
The Hastings Room
First Church Congregationalist
11 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for August and September 2015”

Boston-Area Poetry Readings for May and June 2015

Wednesday, May 20, 6:30 pm
Liam Callanan and Andrea Cohen
Aurora Providence
276 Westminster St.
Providence, RI

Wednesday, May 20, 7 pm
Ralph Fennel, Kevin McLellan, and Jennifer Jean
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, May 21, 7 pm
Kevin Bowen, Frannie Lindsay, Jill McDonough, and Daniel Tobin
Boston Poet Spotlight Reading
curated by Danielle Legros Georges
Trident Booksellers and Cafe
338 Newbury Street
Boston, MA

Continue reading “Boston-Area Poetry Readings for May and June 2015”

Two Poetry Events in Boston and Salem this Weekend: Mass Poetry and Janaka Stucky

Mass Poetry Festival 2015 LogoThe Mass Poetry Festival takes place in Salem during the first weekend in May — just in time to cap off National Poetry Month. Founded in 2009, the festival creates a sort of clearinghouse for the many poetry events and societies in Boston and the surrounding areas. Every year, the festival saturates downtown Salem in readings, workshops, and open-air performances celebrating the written and spoken word. This year’s headliners include Rita Dove, Jorie Graham, Richard Hoffman, and Marge Piercy. The weekend boasts approximately 100 different events and the cost of attendance will fit even a starving poet’s budget: $15.

To see a schedule and purchase a festival button, visit MassPoetry.org

Book Cover and Event Poster for Janaka Stucky's The Truth Is We Are PerfectIf you like your poetry with tattoos and music, I recommend the release party for Janaka Stucky’s full-length book, The Truth Is We Are Perfect. Janaka’s first chapbook Your Name Is the Only Freedom reignited the fire in my own belly and remains one of my prize possessions — excellent text aside, Brave Men Press created a beautiful book. The founder of Black Ocean Press, Janaka has a loyal following in the Boston area. The event, which includes both poetry and music, happens at the Brattle Theatre on Saturday May 2 at 9pm. More information Facebook and the poet’s website. And then there’s this, posted on the Facebook event yesterday morning:

Friends, I’ve felt increasingly conflicted about all the self-promotion this week during so much suffering and unrest. As a result, the other performers and I have agreed to donate all proceeds from ticket sales to a relief fund for those affected by the earthquake in Nepal. Furthermore, I will personally be donating $5 to the ACLU in Baltimore for every book sold at the event on Saturday. I hope you’ll join us in supporting others, through your attendance or in your own way.

Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2015

Photo of crocuses again a backdrop of snow
Photo of crocuses by Tejvan Pettinger CC-licensed via Flickr

April is National Poetry Month. Combined with the advent of spring (and hopefully the disappearance of the last of the snowbanks), that means a massive number of readings in the Boston area. It all culminates with the Mass Poetry Festival, which runs from Thursday April 30 through the first weekend in May.

The April listings are more than ample, but I couldn’t resist giving a shout-out to Janaka Stucky, one of my favorite Boston poets, who will be reading tomorrow evening (Wednesday, March 25, 2015) along with Nicole Terez Dutton, Danniel Schoonebeek, and Jackie Eugene Wang at The Harvard Advocate, 21 South St., Cambridge, MA.

Wednesday, April 1, 7 – 9 pm
Emily Ferrera, James B. Nicola, and Zvi A. Sesling
with Open Mic
Raytheon Room, Wayland Public Library
5 Concord Road
Wayland, MA
Free and open to the public

Wednesday, April 1, 7:30 pm
Veronica Golos
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2015”