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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!
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Are you looking for literary events like book readings, book signings, poetry readings? Then you came to the right place. Start using these unique New York City opportunities today!
Are you looking for literary events like book readings, book signings, poetry readings? Then you came to the right place. Start using these unique New York City opportunities today!
Join the Club!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
19 free poetry readings, book signings, author readings in New York City (NYC) Fri, 11/06/2026 - 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!
Author Reading | New Yorker-Featured Writer Shares Her New Nonfiction Book
A reading and conversation with Priyanka Mattoo, author of How to Be Less Useful: The Joy of Inefficiency.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
Tue, Nov 10
8:00 pm
free, RSVP required
8:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Poetry Reading | Poet Shares His Lyrical & Archival New Work
A reading and conversation with the author of Mud Songs, Patricio Ferrari, who will be joined by translator author Urayoán Noel. Mud Songs Elsehere Book I, by polyglot poet, literary translator, and Fernando Pessoa scholar Patricio Ferrari, is a lyrical and archival journey through languages, inheritances, and crossings. This visionary collection by Ferrari reveals a multilingual poetics of arrival, attentive to histories of migration, loss, and renewal.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Wed, Nov 11
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Poetry Reading | National Book Critics Circle Award-Winning Writer Shares Her Poetry
A poetry reading by Claudia Rankine, hosted by Terrance Hayes. The event will conclude with a reception/signing with books for sale. Claudia Rankine is the author of eight books, three plays, and numerous video collaborations. She is also the co-editor of several anthologies. In 2016, Rankine co-founded The Racial Imaginary Institute (TRII). Among her numerous awards and honors, Rankine is the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Forward Prize, the LA Times Book Award, the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, United States Artists, DAAD, The American Academy in Rome, The American Academy in Berlin, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 12
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Poetry Reading | New Works of Poetry
A reading by Heather Dubrow from her latest collection, Space Stations.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 12
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Author Reading | Psychoanalysts Discuss Their Book on Freud
Jamieson Webster and Patricia Gherovici share their new book, Case by Case. Freud’s ‘talking cure’ and its offshoots are more widespread today than ever. But as the divisive issues of our time grow more urgent, a contentious question persists: must psychoanalysis remove itself from politics altogether in order to be effective? Or is it inherently political? Specific disagreements about how clinicians should or shouldn’t engage with imperialism, violence, race, and gender identity point to the broader question of where politics is situated in our psychic life. Is it on the periphery – a symptom or displacement – or right at the heart of the matter?
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 12
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Author Reading | Translators Read from Book by Nobel Prize-Nominated German Writer
Readings from the new book, Ingeborg Bachmann: The Complete Stories, and a conversation between the book's translators, Philip Boehm and Tess Lewis, that will be moderated by Dorothee Elmiger. This book spans three decades of work from one of the most important German-language writers of the last century. Each of these short stories, beautifully translated by Philip Boehm and Tess Lewis, depicts people at a crossroads, facing decisions about life, truth, love, and death. In addition to the collections "Three Paths to the Lake" and "The Thirtieth Year," this volume includes many stories that have never appeared in English before. In this collection, Ingeborg Bachmann explores the limits of language and experience, grappling with the maladies of modern civilization, with love and sex, with patriarchy and its brutalities.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Fri, Nov 13
6:00 pm
free, RSVP required
6:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Poetry Reading | In Search of Mary Low Tri-lingual Poetry Reading
Celebrating the life and work of surrealist poet Mary Low, with a reading in Spanish, English, and French. In Search of Mary Low represents the first complete collection of Mary Low’s published poetry (1939–2000), edited and translated by the eminent Cuban-American scholar, poet, and literary critic Enrico Mario Santí.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Tue, Nov 17
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Reading | Press Launch: New Works from a New Independent Publisher
Readings and discussion in celebration of the launch of BugNip Press, with press director Grant Farred and editorial collective members Sophia Jahadhmy, Oliver Layman, Alex van Biema, and Anton Jahr-Vavrus. Under discussion will be BugNip's The Unsettler (by Farred and the collective, co-published with np:) and Minneapolis Resists, edited by Mary Vavrus.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Wed, Nov 18
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Poetry Reading | Poetry Open Mic: Share Your Work or Listen to Emerging Writers
Participants can share their original work for up to five minutes. Space is limited to 15 readers; show up on time to get a slot!
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 19
5:30 pm
free, register for...
5:30 pm
free, register for...
Author Reading | Pulitzer Prize Finalist Shares New Material
A reading by Nathan Englander followed by a conversation/Q&A with Darin Strauss. The event will conclude with a reception/signing with books for sale. Nathan Englander's most recent novel is kaddish.com. He is also the author of Dinner at the Center of the Earth, the collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, as well as the internationally bestselling story collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, and the novel The Ministry of Special Cases. He was the 2012 recipient of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for What We Talk About. His short fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, Vogue, and Esquire, among other places.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 19
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Reading | The Devil Wears Prada Live Reading Performance
A special evening of literary performance featuring Helen Laser, award-winning audiobook narrator, bringing select passages from Lauren Weisberger’s bestselling novel to life. This November, the group is stepping into the glossy, cutthroat world of Runway magazine. Follow Andy Sachs, a young aspiring journalist who lands a coveted job working for the formidable Miranda Priestly, only to discover that success comes with impossible demands, designer labe
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 19
8:00 pm
free, RSVP required
8:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Author Reading | Lincoln Center Poet-in-Residence Shares Poetry by Emerging Writers
A reading with writer, playwright, organizer, and educator Mahogany L. Browne, as she presents poets from her New York City Regional Workshop, "Do Not Make Grief Your God." Readers will share works that explore both grief and love, while also responding to political themes and the nuances of sound.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Fri, Nov 20
6:00 pm
free, RSVP required
6:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Open Mic | Hearing from Emerging Writers or Performing Your Own Work
Hear original work by local, emerging writers of all genres, or share some of your own pieces! All performers welcome! Hosted by novelist Ed Lin. Sign ups start from 7:30PM. 5-minute time slots.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Fri, Nov 20
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Poetry Reading | Poetry Festival: Walt Whitman Award-Winning Poets Share Their Work
Readings with Threa Almontaser and Dean Browne. Threa Almontaser (she/her) is the author of the poetry collection The Wild Fox of Yemen (Graywolf Press 2021), winner of the 2020 Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets and longlisted for the 2021 National Book Awards for Poetry. Dean Browne is an Irish poet. He won the 2020 Geoffrey Dearmer Award for his poem "The Last Consultation". His pamphlet Kitchens at Night won the 2021 Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition. His 2025 debut book After Party was a Poetry Book Society recommendation for autumn 2025. He was appointed as the 2026 writer in residence at University College Cork, and was chosen by United Kingdom poet laureate Simon Armitage to take part in the poet laureate's 2026 library tour event at Newcastle, County Down.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Sat, Nov 21
2:00 pm
free, tickets required
2:00 pm
free, tickets required
Poetry Reading | Poetry Fest: Award-Winning American & Irish Writers Read Their Pieces
Readings performed by Stephanie Burt and Annemarie Ní Churreáin. Stephanie Burt is an American literary critic and poet who is the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English at Harvard University. The New York Times has called her "one of the most influential poetry critics of [her] generation." Stephanie Burt is a poet from the Donegal Gaeltacht. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Shine Strong Award for best first collection in Ireland and for the 2018 Julie Suk Award in the U.S.A.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Sat, Nov 21
3:30 pm
free, tickets required
3:30 pm
free, tickets required
Poetry Reading | Poetry Fest: New Yorker-Featured Poets Perform Their Work
Readings by Megan Fernandes and Susannah Dickey. Megan Fernandes is a New York City poet who has written three collections of poetry. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, and The American Poetry Review, among others. Susannah Dickey is a novelist and poet from Derry in Northern Ireland. Dickey received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2020. She is the author of four poetry pamphlets.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Sun, Nov 22
1:00 pm
free, tickets required
1:00 pm
free, tickets required
Poetry Reading | Jazz-Inspired Poetry Celebration
Brooklyn poet Patricia Carragon has a special celebration of her latest poetry collection, Stranger on the Shore (Human Error Publishing, 2026). Inspired by the rhythms and improvisational spirit of jazz, the afternoon will feature Carragon and invited readers performing selections from her collection, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
Sun, Nov 22
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Poetry Reading | Poetry Fest: New Yorker Poetry Editor & Trinity College Professr Share Their Work
Readings from Kevin Young and Peter Sirr. Kevin Young is an American poet and the former director of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture. Author of 11 books and editor of eight others, Young previously served as Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. A winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as a finalist for the National Book Award for his 2003 collection Jelly Roll: A Blues, Young was Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and curator of Emory's Raymond Danowski Poetry Library. In March 2017, Young was named poetry editor of The New Yorker. Peter Sirr lives in Dublin where he works as a freelance writer and translator. He teaches a course in literary translation for the Translation Centre in Trinity College, Dublin. Intimate City: Dublin Essays was published in 2021.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Sun, Nov 22
4:00 pm
free, tickets required
4:00 pm
free, tickets required
Reading | Kirkus Prize-Winning Writers Read from Their New Anthology on Motherhood (for Ages 21+)
Readings from the book Notes to New Mothers by Julie Buntin, Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, Julia Phillips, Kirstin Valdez Quade, and Kristen Radtke. The event will be followed by a signing with books for sale. You must be 21 or older to attend this event.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
Thu, Dec 3
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Join the Club!
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