CALENDAR

A selection of poetry (and occasionally other literary) events going on in the Cascadia region (Washington State and Pacific time except as noted) with links for more information. Some events may involve fees or admission charges. Information is current to the best of our knowledge; please confirm with venues for updates and featured poets.

To make a correction or add your event to the calendar, send an email to thepoetrydepartment at gmail with the following information (required): date, city, brief description, time, venue, link for more information.

Mondays in Seattle – Easy Speak Seattle hosts a featured reader and open mic the 2nd and 4th Monday

Mondays in Seattle – The Magic Hat – 7:00pm – the basement of The Rendezvous

Mondays in Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Poetry Slam (VanSlam) feature plus open mic at Café Deux Soleils; more on Facebook

Wednesdays in Seattle – Write Time Poetry, a weekly drop-in writing circle for teens at Hugo House (meets during the school year)

Wednesdays in Seattle – Open Mic Night: music, poems, dance, comedy, stories – 7:00pm – at Couth Buzzard Books

Wednesdays in Seattle – PoetryBridge LIVE! – email info@poetrybridge.net for weekly Zoom links

Wednesdays in Spokane – Broken Mic featured poet plus open mic at Neato Burrito

Thursdays in Edmonds – Every Writer’s Writing Group – 10:00am-Noon – at the Edmonds Library

Thursdays in Everett – Everett Poetry Night: poetry and acoustic music at Café Zippy

Thursdays in Salem, OR – The Salem Poetry Project presents a featured reader followed by open mic – 7:00pm – at IKE Box Coffee Shop

Fridays in Victoria, BC – Planet Earth Poetry featured poets plus open mic – 7:30pm – at Hillside Coffee and Tea

Confirm specific dates and featured poets with organization or venue; schedules may shift on short notice or be adjusted around holidays.

first Sunday (January thru May) – Portland, OR – The Voice of Empathy Sunday Salon Series – 4:00pm – at The Tiny Theater PDX

first Monday – Auburn – Striped Water Poets: featured poet(s) plus open mic – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café

first Monday – Portland, OR – Free Range Poetry Series – 6:00pm – at Northwest Library

first and third Mondays – Seattle – SH*T GOLD Open Mic Performance Night – 8:00pm – at Velocity Dance Studio

second and fourth Mondays – Bellingham – VB Writes Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books, Fairhaven

second Monday – Seattle – African American Writers Alliance (see website for additional dates and locations) – 7:00pm – at Third Place Books, Seward Park

third Monday – Tacoma – Creative Colloquy presents featured readers plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Honey at Alma Mater

fourth Monday – Tacoma – Commencement Bay Haiku – 5:00pm – at King’s Books

last Monday – Bellingham – Open mic night – 7:00pm – in the Readings Gallery at Village Books

second Tuesday – Edmonds – free, public, EPIC Poetry Group meets monthly to express and improve poetry writing skills – 6:00-7:45pm – at the Edmonds Library

third Tuesday – Eugene, OR – Windfall Reading Series – 6:00pm – at Downtown Eugene Public Library

first and third Wednesdays – Bellingham – VB Writes Poetry II – 10:15am – at Village Books, Fairhaven

first Wednesday – Duvall – Duvall Poetry, open mic plus featured poet – open mic 7:00pm, feature 7:30pm – at Duvall Library

second Wednesday – Bellingham – Whatcom Writers and Publishers – 5:45pm – at Nicki’s Bella Marina

second Wednesday – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater Open Mic – signups 6:30pm, readings 7:00pm – at The Happy Place

third Wednesday – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm, readings 6:30pm – at South Whatcom Library

third Wednesday – LaGrange, OR – Art Center East Writing Project featured author plus open mic – 6:45pm

third Wednesday – Olympia – The Olympia Poetry Network monthly reading with featured poet and open mic – 6:00pm – at Traditions Fair Trade

fourth Wednesday – Chimacum – Finnriver Open Mic Spoken Word – signups 6:00pm – at Finnriver Farm & Cidery

first Thursday – Pendleton Center for the Arts First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm

first and third Thursdays – Bellingham – VB Writes Poetry I – 5:30pm – at Village Books, Fairhaven

second Thursday – Seattle (Ballard) – It’s About Time Writers Reading Series, featured readers, open mic, presentation on the writer’s craft – 6:00pm – at Ballard Branch of The Seattle Public Library

second Thursday (with occasional exceptions) – Haiku Northwest

second Thursday – Vancouver – Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic with featured reader – signup 6:30pm – at Angst Gallery

third Thursday – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series: feature plus open mic – 7:00pm

third Thursday – Redmond – SoulFood Poetry Night, with featured reader and open mic – 7:00pm – at SoulFood Coffee House

fourth Thursday – Port Townsend – Northwind Reading Series presents readings by local and guest authors, featuring both poets and prose writers (check calendar for additional events) – 7:00pm – at Northwind Arts Center

first Friday – Portland, OR – Fridays on the Boulevard open mic – 7:00pm – at the Attic Institute

second Friday – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection (PSPC) Distinguished Writer Series with feature plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian

last Friday – Redmond – RASP: Redmond Association of Spokenword, open mic plus feature – signup 6:30pm, reading 7:00pm – online

first Saturday – Bellingham – Red Wheelbarrow Writers: Writers’ Happy Hour – 4:00pm – at Brandywine Restaurant

first Saturday – Poulsbo – Armchair Poetry Reading – 7:00pm – at Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse

second and fourth Saturdays – Lynden – VB Writes Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – at Village Books, Lynden

third Saturday – Kirkland – Poetry workshop and reading – at BookTree

12 – BIRTHDAY – Bernadette Mayer

13 – online – Airlie Press May Mixer Reading & Fundraiser – 6:00pm

13 – online – Nature of Writing Series presents An Evening with Saul Weisberg and Friends – 7:00pm

13 – online – Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic – 7:00pm

14 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth Austen, Lea Galanter

14 – online – Claudia Castro Luna, Honorée Fannone Jeffers, Sasha LaPointe read from There’s A Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis (Vintage), edited by recent U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith and poet/editor John Freeman – 6:00pm

15 – online – Ishle Yi Park with Bushra Rehman – 2:00pm

18 – online – The Poetic Apothecary: Poems for Healing and Comfort – 11:00am

19 – online – Kim Stafford book event at Red Hen Press – 4:00pm

20 – online – Margin Shift: Friends in Poetry presents Jen Soriano, Kamden Hilliard, Arianne True – 6:30pm

20 – online – Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest Awards Ceremony – 7:00pm

20 – online – SoulFood Poetry Night featuring Maggie Chula and Mark Thalman – 7:00pm

23 – online – Village Books presents an online poetry reading with Richard Widerkehr, Gayle Kaune, Susan Landgraf, and Thomas Mitchell – 4:00pm

24 – BIRTHDAY – Tom Phillips; Lorna Crozier

24 – online – Terrain.org Reading Series: Rhina P. Espaillat, Chaun Ballard + Lee Herrick – 5:00pm

24 – online – Sylvia Byrne Pollack with Elizabeth Austen – 6:00pm

30 – BIRTHDAY – Countee Cullen

31 – BIRTHDAY – Walt Whitman

3 – BIRTHDAY – Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997)

5 – BIRTHDAY – Federico García Lorca (June 5, 1898 – August 18, 1936)

5-6 – online – Poets in the Park

7 – BIRTHDAY – Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni

16 – Ireland & elsewhere – Bloomsday

21 – BIRTHDAY – Sheila Sondik

25-26 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Writers Conference 2021 – at Whatcom Community College

26 – online – The Poetry Marathon

2 – BIRTHDAY – Wisława Szymborska

9 – BIRTHDAY – Susan Rich

16 – BIRTHDAY – Robert Lashley

19-24 – online – Port Townsend Writers Conference

31 – BIRTHDAY – Kim Addonizio

1-31 – August Poetry Postcard Fest

2 – BIRTHDAY – James Baldwin

3 – BIRTHDAY – Diane Wakoski

5 – BIRTHDAY – Wendell Berry, Ron Silliman

20 – BIRTHDAY – Heather McHugh

28 – BIRTHDAY – Rita Dove

5 – BIRTHDAY – Nicanor Parra

10 – BIRTHDAY – Mary Oliver

11 – BIRTHDAY – Ryler Dustin, Michael Schmeltzer

24-26 – Tieton – LiTFUSE 2021

1-3 – online – Write on the Sound

3 – BIRTHDAY – Bill Porter (Red Pine)

4 – BIRTHDAY – James Bertolino, Susan J. Erickson

14 – BIRTHDAY – Ocean Vuong

15 – BIRTHDAY – Kim Stafford

15-17 – online – Haiku North America 2021

28-31 – Seabeck – Seabeck Haiku Getaway

1-30 – everywhere – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

2 – BIRTHDAY – Samuel Green

2 – BIRTHDAY – Jimmy Santiago Baca

9 – BIRTHDAY – Kelli Russell Agodon

13 – BIRTHDAY – Megan Snyder-Camp

17 – BIRTHDAY – William Stafford

20 – BIRTHDAY – Ernesto Cardenal, Edward Hirsch, Bruce Beasley

22 – BIRTHDAY – Luther Allen

31 – BIRTHDAY – Albert Goldbarth

1-28 – everywhere – National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo)

1 – BIRTHDAY – Joannie Stangeland

4 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth Vignali

6 – BIRTHDAY – Rena Priest

19 – BIRTHDAY – Rick Barot

25 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth J. Colen

27 – BIRTHDAY – Oliver de la Paz

1-31 – Whatcom County – Submissions open for Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest

1 – BIRTHDAY – Brenda Miller

5 – BIRTHDAY – Leslie Marmon Silko

12 – BIRTHDAY – Naomi Shihab Nye

18 – BIRTHDAY – Wilfred Owen

21 – everywhere – World Poetry Day

23 – BIRTHDAY – Lana Hechtman Ayers

1-30 – National Poetry Month and NaPoWriMo

4 – BIRTHDAY – Anita K. Boyle

11 – BIRTHDAY – Maria McLeod

14 – BIRTHDAY – Jericho Brown

16 – BIRTHDAY – Tracy K. Smith

17 – everywhere – International Haiku Poetry Day

23 – BIRTHDAYS – Coleman Barks, Halldór Laxness

25 – BIRTHDAYS – Ted Kooser, James Fenton

28 – BIRTHDAYS – Carolyn Forché, Roberto Bolaño

29 – BIRTHDAYS – C.P. Cavafy, Yusef Komunyakaa

30 – Everywhere – Poem in Your Pocket Day

2 – BIRTHDAY – Rob Lewis

8 – BIRTHDAY – Nora Marks Keixwnéi Dauenhauer

9 – BIRTHDAYS – Charles Simic, Dan Chiasson, Joy Harjo