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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!
15 free poetry readings, book signings, author readings in New York City (NYC) Sat, 10/31/2026 - 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!
Poetry Reading | Tibetan, Sierra Leonean, & Venezuelan Poets & Musicians Celebrate New York City's Mother Tongues
“Language City," hosted by Ross Perlin, author of Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, featuring Sierra Leonian poet-historian Kewulay Kamara, Tibetan poet Tsering Gyaltso, and community scholar Nawang Gurung, and Venezuelan llanera singers Luis “El Cacique” Garcia and Mafer Bandola, with harp and maraca accompaniment. Followed by a discussion about minority languages in New York City.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Sat, Oct 31
1:00 pm
free, donations welcome,...
1:00 pm
free, donations welcome,...
Reading | Storytelling Party & Open Mic
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.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Tue, Nov 3
7:00 pm
free, donations welcome,...
7:00 pm
free, donations welcome,...
Poetry Reading | Poetry & Music: Ilya Kaminsky Reads His Award-Winning Work
Experience words and music from around the globe. This salon will feature a reading by poet Ilya Kaminsky, accompanied by singer Carrie Erving and cellist Chris Loxley. A printout will be available for attendees to follow along with Kaminsky's poetry during the reading. Following the reading, Kaminsky will be interviewed by event host Patricio Ferrari. Ilya Kaminsky was born in Odessa, former Soviet Union, in 1977, and arrived to the US in 1993, when his family was granted asylum by the government. He is the author of Deaf Republic and Dancing In Odessa and co-editor and co-translator of many other books. His work was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the Whiting Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Metcalf Award, and Poetry magazine's Levinson Prize, and was also shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Neustadt International Literature Prize, and T.S. Eliot Prize (UK). He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lannan Fellowship, an Academy of American Poets' Fellowship, and an NEA Fellowship.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Wed, Nov 4
6:30 pm
free, registration required
6:30 pm
free, registration required
Poetry Reading | Contemporary Poetry with 2 Writers
A poetry reading with Andrea Fry and Elizabeth Coleman. Elizabeth J. Coleman’s Mega-Galaxies won the 2025 Adrift Chapbook Competition. Andrea Fry is the author of three poetry collections.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 5
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
Reading | Readings & Musical Performances Inspired by Howard Zinn
A night featuring actors Wallace Shawn, Jessica Hecht, and Arian Moayed, comedian Hari Kondabolu, musician Ali Dineen, poet Staceyann Chin, and other special guests to be announced. The night is inspired by author Dave Zirin’s acclaimed new biography, The People's Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn, and will feature selections from Zinn’s own writing and speeches, as well as work that deeply inspired him; narrated by Dave Zirin and Haley Pessin. 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.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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Thu, Nov 5
7:30 pm
free, fast-track option...
7:30 pm
free, fast-track option...
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
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
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 | 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
Join the Club!
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