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11 free poetry readings, book signings, author readings in New York City (NYC) Mon, 07/27/2026 - 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 | Pushcart Prize-Winning Writers Share an Evening of Poetry

Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets: Beth Ann Fennelly, David Baker, Maya C. Popa, and Owen Lewis. Beth Ann Fennelly is a 2020 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow and was the poet laureate of Mississippi from 2016 to 2021. She's won grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the United States Artists, a Pushcart, and a Fulbright to Brazil. Fennelly has published three books of poetry and four of prose. Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs was an Atlanta Journal Constitution Best Book. A contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Esquire, and other outlets. David Baker is the author of many books of poetry. His Never-Ending Birds was awarded the 2011 Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize. He is coeditor of Collected Poems of Stanley Plumly. Baker's work appears in APR, The Atlantic, The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, and is included in the landmark anthology A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker. Maya C. Popa is the poetry reviews editor at Publishers Weekly and teaches poetry at NYU. She is the founder of Conscious Writers Collective, a global online writing platform and community providing ongoing literary education and support outside formal academia. Owen Lewis is the author of four collections of poetry and three chapbooks, most recently A Prayer of Six Wings, a finalist for the 2026 Patterson Book Prize. Honors include the 2024 E.E.Cummings Prize, the 2023 Guernsey International Poetry Prize, the 2023 Rumi Prize for Poetry, the International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine, and the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, Jul 28
6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, July 28, 2026, 07/28/2026, Pushcart Prize-Winning Writers Share an Evening of Poetry

Open Mic | Emerging Writers & Writing Community Share Works on Identity & Selfhood: Share Your Own Work

This reading event explores memory, self-invention, and the idea that we are all living inventories of our experiences. Featured readers will share work about the cultures and places that make up their origins and forge their writing. The Open Mic portion invites writers working across all mediums to contribute pieces on identity, personal history, and transformation — the deeper the better. Call for Open Mic Participants: Organizers are looking for pieces that explore memory, personal history, origin: thinking specifically about the places, cultures, event, and people that either shaped you as a person or informed the themes of your work. This can include: Memoir and personal essay writing Fiction/Prose/Poetry that is particularly representative of your personal style/key themes Writing on upbringing, culture, heritage, home, place and belief systems Writing that references yourself Interested readers should plan to arrive by 6:30pm in order to sign up.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Wed, Jul 29
7:00 pm
Free

Open Mics, July 29, 2026, 07/29/2026, Emerging Writers & Writing Community Share Works on Identity & Selfhood: Share Your Own Work

Poetry Reading | Major Poets & Emerging Voices Share Their Work

Lincoln Center's inaugural Poet-in-Residence, Mahogany L. Browne curates thought-provoking evenings of spoken word, spirited conversation, poetry, and presentations of new work, presenting major poets and emerging voices on the New York literary scene. Featured artists to be announced soon! There are two ways to access this event: 1. General Admission, first-come first-served. Just show up! 2. Fast Track opening the Monday before the event at noon.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Fri, Jul 31
7:30 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, July 31, 2026, 07/31/2026, Major Poets & Emerging Voices Share Their Work

Reading | Reading & Socializing with Fellow Book-Lovers

Guests are invited to indulge in a unique reading party, fueled by literature and connection. Bring your favorite book, play, musical score—or borrow one that was specially curated by theorganizers. This is a one-of-a-kind reading party you won't want to miss.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Sat, Aug 1
10:00 am
Free

Readings, August 01, 2026, 08/01/2026, Reading & Socializing with Fellow Book-Lovers

Poetry Reading | Award-WInning Poets Share Their Work in the Park

Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets. David Groff is the author of Live in Suspense. His previous book, Clay, chosen for the Louise Bogan Award. His first collection, Theory of Devolution, was selected by Mark Doty for the National Poetry Series. Kazim Ali's most recent book is Sukun: New and Selected Poems, which Publisher’s Weekly called, “dazzling.” Martha Rhodes is the author of 5 poetry collections, most recently The Thin Wall. Richard Smith’s first book, Not a Soul but Us, won the 2021 May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize. His second book, Beyond Where Words Can Go, has just been published.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, Aug 4
6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, August 04, 2026, 08/04/2026, Award-WInning Poets Share Their Work in the Park

Reading | Storytelling Party & Open Mic

No Name Comedy/Variety Show producer Eric Vetter brings New York’s best established and emerging authors and storytellers to this bookstore for this storytelling party. This event is curated and co-hosted by author/storyteller Michele Carlo, the author of FISH OUT OF AGUA: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks. The show will also include a “Magic Hat Open-Mic” where audience members can sign up for a chance at four minutes of stage time to share their own stories.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, Aug 4
7:00 pm
Free

Readings, August 04, 2026, 08/04/2026, Storytelling Party & Open Mic

Poetry Reading | Lambda Award-Winning Poets Share Their Work in the Park

Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets. Allison Joseph's most recent collections of poems are Lexicon, Any Proper Weave, Speak and Spell, and Confessions of a Barefaced Woman, which won the 2019 Feathered Quill Book Award and was a finalist for the 2019 NAACP Image Award. Her poems have appeared in The New York Times and in the Best American Poetry Series. Brendan Constantine's work has appeared in many standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, and Poem-a-Day. erica lewis's books include the precipice of jupiter and camera obscura; murmur in the inventory; and the box set trilogy: daryl hall is my boyfriend, mary wants to be a superwoman, and mahogany. Stephen S. Mills is the author of the Lambda Award-winning book He Do the Gay Man in Different Voices, as well as A History of the Unmarried, and Not Everything Thrown Starts a Revolution. His work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Fourteen Poems, The Los Angeles Review, and others.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, Aug 11
6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, August 11, 2026, 08/11/2026, Lambda Award-Winning Poets Share Their Work in the Park

Poetry Reading | Evening of Local Poetry

Enjoy an evening of poetry with local poet and playwright Galinsky, with "Five Minute Features" from a dozen poets of all styles.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Thu, Aug 13
8:00 pm
Free

Poetry Readings, August 13, 2026, 08/13/2026, Evening of Local Poetry

Poetry Reading | Award-Winning Poets Share Their Work in the Park

Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets. Amy Dryansky’s third poetry collection, Ambergris, is forthcoming. Her first, How I Got Lost So Close to Home, won the New England/New York Award. Individual poems appear in Adroit, Harvard Review, New England Review, Orion, The Sun, Tin House, Waxwing, and other journals, as well as several anthologies. Daniel Tobin is the author of ten books of poems, including Blood Labors, named one of the Best Poetry Books of the Year for 2018 by The New York Times and The Washington Independent Review of Books. Ethel Rackin is the author of four poetry books: The Forever Notes; Go On; Evening; and In Time. In addition, she is the author of the text Crafting Poems and Stories: A Guide to Creative Writing. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Colorado Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Poetry Daily, and other journals. Steven Kleinman is the author of Life Cycle of a Bear, winner of the 2019 Philip Levine Prize. His poems appear in The Iowa Review, The Georgia Review, Copper Nickel, and the anthologies Best American Poetry 2020 and Ensnaring the Moment: on the Intersection of Poetry and Photography.

New York City, NY; NYC

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Tue, Aug 18
6:00 pm
Free