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12 free poetry readings, book signings, author readings in New York City (NYC) Tue, 05/14/2024 - and on...

Not a day goes by in New York City (NYC) without a free poetry reading or a book signing or a book reading by a famous or not yet famous author. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

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Poetry Reading | An Evening of Poetry, Performance, and Music

Austin Alexis is the author of the full-length poetry collection Privacy Issues, which received the 20th Annual Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award. He is also the author of two chapbooks published by Poets Wear Prada. His work has appeared in Barrow Street, Hawaii Pacific Review, The Journal, The Pedestal Magazine, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, Westchester Review, Paterson Literary Review and other journals and anthologies. Bakar Wilson has performed his work at the Bowery Poetry Club, Poetry Project, The Studio Museum of Harlem, The Asian-American Writer's Workshop, and the Langston Hughes House, among others. His poetry has appeared in The Vanderbilt Review, The Lumberyard Radio Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Flicker and Spark: A Contemporary Queer Anthology, and The Ostrich Review, among others. Danny Shot’s WORKS was published in 2018 by CavanKerry Press. His new collection The Jersey Slide is forthcoming from CavanKerry Press. Recent endeavors include being an Associate Editor of A Gathering of the Tribes online (2020-2023) and Poetry Editor of Red Fez (2018-2021). Eve Packer is a Bronx-born, poet/performer/actress. Packer has published four poetry books, skulls head samba, playland poems 1994-2004, new nails. (Fly By Night Press), and no mask no talk corona poems 2020-2021 from Autonomedia Press. Daniel Carter is a musician and writer. Since coming to New York City in 1970, he has sought out musicians and situations that encourage free expression. Some of his writing can be found in the following publications: The Tinker: Innovative Arts and Literature Magazine, 50 Miles of Elbow Room, Number One (2000), Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, Dyed-in-the-Wool (2000), Intervalsss: The Poems and Words of Musicians (2000), Sex Sells Magazine (1997), Wandering Archive One (1998). Jennifer Blowdryer is a singer and writer whose songs observe in a somewhat detached manner the underworld of punk rock and regular people. She started as front person for an SF Punk Band, the Blowdryers and later co-founded White Trash Debutantes. Throughout the decades and with no knowledge or desire to conform to social norms, she produced and MC’d a 5-year-long worldwide show called Smut Fest, which showcased sex workers' expression and drew on crowds otherwise not known to intermingle. Kim D. Brandon is a Poet/Artist/Activist/Storyteller. Her work has been included in stage performances, anthologies, and journals. She is a 2021 Brooklyn Poets’ Poet of the Week, and a VONA alum. She is the founder of Brooklyn Society Writers group and the host of writing workshops for people of color. This year her work centers on the revolutionary power of Black love. A Joe for Annie Mae, her upcoming novel, highlights the transformative power of love in the lives of those who seek it. Nancy Mercado is the recipient of the American Book Award for lifetime achievement. She has featured at: The Whitney Museum in New York City, the University of Nantes in France, and Casa de las Americas cultural institute in Havana, Cuba among others. Mercado has authored 2 books, 7 theatre plays, has edited 3 anthologies and several literary magazines. Sheila Maldonado is the author of the poetry collections that's what you get (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2021) and one-bedroom solo (Fly by Night Press / A Gathering of the Tribes, 2011). Truffles is a cathartic turbid musical collective, with five or four members – perfect for dancing! Yuko Otomo is a visual artist and a bilingual writer of Japanese origin. She writes poetry, haiku, art criticism, travelogues and essays. Her most recent publications are Anonymous Landscape (Lithic Press), In Delacroix’s Garden: a collaborative book with Basil King (Spuyten Duyvil) and PINK (Lithic Press).

New York City, NY; NYC

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Wed, May 15
6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, May 15, 2024, 05/15/2024, An Evening of Poetry, Performance, and Music

**Poetry Reading | remembering (y)our light: Debut Poetry (in-person and online)**

River Dandelion's debut chapbook asks how we preserve intergenerational memory when the archives hold missing knowledge. In this collection, food lives as a conduit of memory, recipes hold ancestral wisdom, and poems become spells for safety. These poems honor matriarchs and elders who have lived through tumult and demonstrates how poetry can archive history. From Toisan to New York City, River's poems delve into how we cultivate care and safety within ourselves, each other, and in community. These pieces are testament to how we address and mend intergenerational wounds to remember who we and who we came here to be.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Thu, May 16
7:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, May 16, 2024, 05/16/2024, remembering (y)our light: Debut Poetry (in-person and online)

Poetry Reading | Poets Afloat

The fifth annual NYC Poets Afloat group poetry reading returns aboard the 1885 tall ship. Poets have been invited to participate in micro-residencies aboard ships in New York Harbor, where they have been inspired to write and create poetry while being surrounded by the city’s bustling waters. Now, these poets will gather on the deck of Wavertree for a group reading, sharing their creative works with the audience.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Sun, May 19
2:00 pm
$1

Poetry Readings, May 19, 2024, 05/19/2024, Poets Afloat

**Poetry Reading | Fake Piñata: Lives Cut Open**

In this debut collection, Ashleah Gonzales cuts open and examines the pieces of a life as they fall. Hands full of rotten oranges, promises to ancestors, lost secrets, empty days in Paris—they begin to add up to “an eternity that’s entirely mine.” These poems sting with tenderness, intimacy, and a longing to find a place that finally feels like home.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, May 21
6:30 pm
$5

Poetry Readings, May 21, 2024, 05/21/2024, Fake Piñata: Lives Cut Open

Reading | Winning Words: A Reading with the 2024 Bellevue Literary Prize Winners (online)

Bellevue Literary Review celebrates the publication of its 46th issue and recognize the winners of the 2024 BLR Literary Prizes. Step into spring with exciting new works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, plus interviews by BLR editors Saleem Hue Penny, Doris W. Cheng, and Danielle Ofri.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Thu, May 23
7:00 pm
Free

Readings, May 23, 2024, 05/23/2024, Winning Words: A Reading with the 2024 Bellevue Literary Prize Winners (online)

Poetry Reading | Poetry in the Park

Poetry with Sarah Gambito, Roberto Garcia, Joseph Legaspi, Maya Phillips

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, May 28
6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, May 28, 2024, 05/28/2024, Poetry in the Park

**Reading | Wyrm Magazine Launch and Performance**

The launch of Wyrm Magazine, Scrappers & Villagers, published by Wyrm Farm at the onset of its growing season. To commemorate the launch of Wyrm Magazine, Scrappers & Villagers, contributor Jasper Spicero will perform a table reading of his new screenplay “Logic Before Authority.” Six actors—led by Spicero—will gather on the occasion of their admission into a fictional school to read the artist’s screenplay, which is considered a historical text in their world. The table reading includes wooden guns handmade by Taisei Komatsu. Wyrm Magazine, Scrappers & Villagers includes contributions by Joseph Buckley, Claire Dougherty, Ben Roylance, Jasper Spicero, Lillian Paige Walton and Souchou Yao.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Wed, May 29
7:00 pm
Free

Readings, May 29, 2024, 05/29/2024, Wyrm Magazine Launch and Performance

Reading | Voices of a People's History: Heroic Voices

Voices of a People’s History continues a revitalization of the work of Brooklyn-born author and scholar Howard Zinn. This live event focuses on Zinn's timeless and insightful book, A People’s History of the United States, a document of the vital everyday epics of common men and women engaged in the life and death struggle for justice: abolitionists, activists, protesters, founders of the first American unions, suffragettes who advanced women's rights, and pioneers of gay liberation. All these heroic voices will be brought to life in performance by a chorus of young student activists who have been mentored by the center's creative staff to find personal meaning in these timeless texts.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Thu, May 30
7:30 pm
Free