NYC Readings Roundup :: June 3-9
Amiri Baraka reading at The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church
Editor’s note: welcome to the 14th iteration of our new weekly series, the Readings Roundup…which you might notice is growing steadily! Sorry if I’m repeating myself to some of you but if this is your first time here it bears noting that it’s long been a pipedream of ours to revive the NYC Poetry Calendar (started in 1977 by Bob Holman), to provide for the community here a true and cohesive overview of the vibrant scene that seems to birth a new event every day.
How does a poet new to New York or just new to the readings landscape figure out where to go, what these different events and organizations represent and offer?
We have a habit of biting off more than we can chew, so even though we have an overwhelmingly robust spreadsheet we’re working on making into an interactive page on the site, in future, we decided not to wait. In the meanwhile, we’ll start small — featuring in particular long running events and venues, making sure always to keep a healthy balance between styles and associations. We are judgement free and love filled, we’re just excited people are writing, reading, and sharing this important form. Come out!
– Lynne DeSilva-Johnson, Poetry/Managing Editor
FEATURED EVENT:
Sunday, June 6, 4-6pm | $10
Lunar Walk Poetry Series Open Mic @ Two Moon Art House & Cafe
Open Mic featuring Moira Egan and Exit Strata contributor Joel Allegretti. $10 cover include free drink (tea, beer, wine, etc.) Moira Egan is coming all the way from Rome, Italy, and Joel Allegretti is coming all the way from New Jersey. Don’t miss these compelling writer/performers!
A resident of Rome, Italy, Moira Egan’s Bar Napkin Sonnets (2009) won the 2008 Ledge Poetry Chapbook Competition. She is the author of the collections Cleave (2004); La Seta della Cravatta / The Silk of the Tie (2009), a bilingual collection with Italian translations by Damiano Abeni, and Spin (2010). With Abeni and Joseph Harrison, Egan has also published a translation of John Ashberys poemsUn mondo che non pu essere migliore: Poesie Scelte 19562007 (2008). Egan earned an MFA from Columbia University and has taught at John Cabot University and the Summer Program at St. Stephens School in Rome. She was a resident at the Rockefeller Foundations Bellagio Center.
Joel Allegretti is the author of four collections of poetry: Europa/ Nippon/ New York: Poems/ Not-Poems (Poets Wear Prada, 2012); Thrum; Father Silicon, and The Plague Psalms. He is also the editor of the anthology Rabbit Ears: TV Poems, forthcoming from Poets Wear Prada in Fall 2013, and his poems have appeared in many journals including Smartish Pace, PANK, The New York Quarterly, Maintenant: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing & Art; MARGIE; Fulcrum, The Best American Poetry blog, and the anthologies Divining Divas, Token Entry: New York City Subway Poems, Chance of a Ghost and Exit Strata.
MONDAY 6/3
7-9pm | free admission
A Night of NYC Memoirists@ KGB Bar
Susannah Cahalan, Mike Doughty, George Gurley, Rone Shavers and Marc Spitz will read from their most recent collections.
8-10pm | free admission
Saturn Series Poetry @ Revival Bar
Saturn Series Poetry is a writers’ open mic every Monday night. This is not a slam. Poets, playwrights, screenwriters and novelists perform prose, poetry and sometimes a song or two.
8pm | $8, $7 students and seniors, $5 members
Spring Workshop Reading @ The Poetry Project at Saint Mark’s Church
Participants in the Poetry Project’s Spring Workshops will read their work, with introductions by Workshop instructors Sharon Mesmer, Tan Lin, E. Tracy Grinnell and Lewis Warsh.
TUESDAY 6/4
7pm | $10; $7 for students/seniors; free for Poets House Members
Emerging Poets Fellowship Reading @ Poets House
A reading by the 10 poets in Poets House’s second annual Emerging Poets Fellowship program:Mahogany Browne, Jessica Elsaesser, Paul Hlava, Rosamond King, Elsbeth Pancrazi, Montana Ray,Andrew Seguin, Xeňa Stanislavovna Semjonová, Purvi Shah and Ocean Vuong.
7pm | $25; $15 for students, seniors and NYPL Friends
LIVE from the NYPL: Celebrating Federico García Lorca @ Celeste Bartos Forum
“To coincide with The New York Public Library’s exhibition “Back Tomorrow: Federico García Lorca / Poet in New York,” this special installment of LIVE from the NYPL celebrates Lorca’s life and legacy with performances and readings. Participants include John Giorno, Will Keen and Maria Fernandez Ache, Philip Levine, Christopher Maurer, Paul Muldoon, Patti Smith, and Tracy K. Smith.”
7:30-11pm | $10
Organic Open Mic @ Bareburger (East Village)
Produced by the Inspired Word open mic series, this open mic is open to all types of performing artists – comedians, musicians, storytellers, singers, poets, fiction/nonfiction writers, playwrights, spoken word artists, performance artists, dancers. Doors open for open mic sign-up @ 7pm.
WEDNESDAY 6/5
7-9pm | 1 drink minimum, no cover
Liars’ League @ KGB Bar
Liars’ League NYC is a monthly live literary journal featuring professional actors reading original short stories by both up-and-coming and well-established writers. Hosted by Andrew Lloyd-Jones.
8pm | $8, $7 students and seniors, $5 members
Anselm Hollo Memorial Reading @ The Poetry Project at Saint Mark’s Church
A celebration of the life and work of Anselm Hollo; poet, translator, teacher and great friend to the Project. Featuring Jane Dalrymple-Hollo, Bill Berkson, Pierre Joris, Nicole Peyrafitte, Edmund Berrigan, Josephine Clare, Bob Perelman, Anselm Berrigan, Hoa Nguyen, Lisa Jarnot, Simon Pettet, Carla Harryman, Rachel Levitsky, Jonathan Skinner, Steven Taylor and David Henderson.
9pm | $7
Wednesday Night Slam Open @ The Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Open to the first 20 poets to sign up so arrive early if you want to slam. The night’s winner will eligible to perform in the Nuyorican’s famed Friday Night Poetry Slam. Hosted by Jive Poetic.
THURSDAY 6/6
7-10pm | free admission
COUPLET: a Poetry and Music Series @ The Delancy
Hosted by poet Leah Umansky, Couplet is a quarterly reading series held on the Lower East Side featuring both emerging and established poets. Every event features music & after-party by DJ Ceremony. Featuring Jesse Bradley, Jillian Brall, Jackie Clark, Dolan Morgan and Adam Fitzgerald.
FRIDAY 6/7
7-9pm | free admission
Paragraph reading @ KGB Bar
Featured writers will read from their recent work.
10pm | $10
Friday Night Slam @ The Nuyorican Poets Cafe
NYC’s first poetry slam was held at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in 1989 and 20 years later it is still going strong. Watch poets perform and compete. Judges are 5 randomly chosen audience members.
10pm | $8, $7 students and seniors, $5 members
Recluse Reading @ The Poetry Project at Saint Mark’s Church
Contributors to issue 9 of The Poetry Project’s magazine, The Recluse, will read their work. Featuring Edmund Berrigan, R. Erica Doyle, Matt Longabucco, Camille Rankine and Laura Henriksen.
SATURDAY 6/8
5:30-7:30pm | $6
IAWA EAST Open Reading Series @ Sidewalk Cafe
A reading by the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) featuring Joe Sciorra and Michael Steffen.
7-8:30pm | free admission
Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize Launch @ Pete’s Candy Store
An evening of poetry to celebrate the launch of this year’s Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize – set to be one of the biggest prizes for a single poem. Nick Laird and Catherine Barnett will read alongside this year’s judge, Marie Howe, New York State’s Poet Laureate.
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Resources:
Poets.org Events Calendar
Poets and Writers (P&W) Literary Events Calendar (Filter by City, State)
Poetry Project Calendar
Belladonna* Reading Series
KGB Bar Calendar
Nuyorican Poets Cafe Calendar
Poets House Calendar
Time Out New York | Book Events
The series is overseen by Managing/Poetry Editor Lynne DeSilva-Johnson and maintained by Taylor Quilty, Exit Strata Program Assistant. Please email editors@exitstrata.com to submit your event/organization with READINGS ROUNDUP in the subject line for inclusion in future listings!
