A selection of poetry (and occasionally other literary) events going on in the Cascadia region (primarily Washington state) 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. To 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 Bellingham – poetrynight featured poet and open mic (venue change starting April 2018; check Facebook for latest information)
Mondays in Everett – Poetry Laboratory open mic at Black Lab Art Gallery
Mondays in Seattle – Easy Speak Seattle hosts a featured reader and open mic the 2nd and 4th Monday
Mondays in Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Poetry Slam (VanSlam) feature plus open mic at Café Deux Soleils; more on Facebook
Tuesdays in Seattle – Seattle Poetry Slam presents a featured poet plus open mic and slam at Re-bar
Wednesdays in Bellingham – Acoustic Wednesdays with host JD Falcon Grady featuring local artists and poets – 6:30pm at Greene’s Corner
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 – Rain City Slam: all-ages spoken word open mic, featured poet and poetry slam at Jai Thai on Broadway
Wednesdays in Spokane – Broken Mic featured poet plus open mic at Neato Burrito
Wednesdays in Vaughn – Watermark Writers’ Workshop – on the waterfront
Thursdays in Everett – Everett Poetry Night: poetry and acoustic music at Café Zippy
Thursdays in Olympia – the Old Growth Poetry Collective presents the Olympia People’s Mic with featured reader and open mic – at Ben Moore’s Restaurant
Thursdays in Salem, OR – The Salem Poetry Project presents a featured reader followed by open mic – 7:00pm – at Barrel & Keg
Fridays in Victoria, BC – Planet Earth Poetry featured poets plus open mic – 7:30pm – at Hillside Coffee and Tea
17 – Seattle – “Power And”: A Roundtable Discussion About Why The Powers That Be, Are (free, but reservations required) – 5:00pm – at Open Books
19 – Bellingham – Poet Shannon Laws hosts a Honeymoon poetry OPEN MIC followed by her “You Love Me, You Love Me Not” beat poetry program – 8:30pm – at Honey Moon
19 – Port Townsend – Third-Tuesday Poetry + Short-Shorts: an evening of 5-minute readings – 6:30pm – at Better Living Through Coffee
19 – Tacoma – Commencement Bay Haiku Meeting – 6:00pm – at King’s Books
20 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group II, 10:15am – at Village Books
20 – Milwaukie, OR – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Judith Arcana – 7:00pm – at the Ledding Library Pond House
20 – Omak – A Fierce Language: Falling in Love with Poetry – 6:30pm – at Omak Public Library
20 – Seattle – Words West Literary series featuring Suzanne Selfors and Dana Claire Simpson – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
21 – BIRTHDAY – Sheila Sondik
21 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group, 5:30pm – at Village Books
21 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pearson Auditorium
21 – Portland, OR – Summer solstice with poets Dan Raphael, Paul Maziar, and Suzanne Sigafooson – 7:00pm – at Backstory Books
22-23 – Bellingham – 8th Annual Chuckanut Writers Conference
22 – Seattle – Reading with Alexandra Mattraw & Amber Nelson – 7:00pm – at Open Books
23 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – Village Books Lynden
25 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
25 – Bellingham – Open Mic Night with Sean Dwyer – 7:00pm – at Village Books
25 – Corvallis, OR – Willamette Writers on the River open mic – 6:30pm – at First Presbyterian Church
25 – Tacoma – Commencement Bay Haiku meeting – 5:00pm – at King’s Books
26 – Seattle – Easy Speak Open Mike features Susan Landgraf – 8:00pm – at Wedgwood Ale House & Cafe
27 – Eugene, OR – River Road Reading Series – 4:30pm – at the River Road Park Annex
27 – Seattle – Terrance Hayes reads from his latest collection, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin – 7:00pm – at The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute
28 – Manzanita, OR – Book Launch for Bitterbrush by poet Phyllis Mannan – 6:00pm – at Cloud & Leaf Bookstore
29 – Seattle – A Storytelling Event Featuring Cave Canem, Kundiman, and CantoMundo Poets – 7:00pm – at Open Books
1 – Portland, OR – Poetry Reading at Lents Farmers Market – 9:30 – 10:15am – at Lents International Farmers Market
2 – BIRTHDAY – Wisława Szymborska
4 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group II, 10:15am – at Village Books
5 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group, 5:30pm – at Village Books
6 – Bellingham – Susan Chase-Foster celebrates the launch of her books of poems and photographs, Xie Xie Taipei – 7:00pm – at Village Books
7 – Tulalip – First Thursday Poetry Series with featured poets and open mic – 6:00pm – at Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center Longhouse Room
9 – BIRTHDAY – Susan Rich
9 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
11 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater – 7:00pm – at Lovitt’s Restaurant Atrium
12 – Seattle – A Reading & Reception for Raven Chronicles Journal Vol. 26: Last Call – 7:00pm – at the Elliott Bay Book Company
12 – Vancouver – Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic – 7:00pm – at Angst Gallery
13 – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection presents the Distinguished Writer Series, with featured writer plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian
14 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – Village Books Lynden
14 – Port Townsend – Workshop: PoemLab – techniques for objective revision, with Peter Quinn – 10:00am-4:00pm – at The Writers’ Workshoppe
16 – BIRTHDAY – Robert Lashley
17 – Port Townsend – Third-Tuesday Poetry + Short-Shorts: an evening of 5-minute readings – 6:30pm – at Better Living Through Coffee
18 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group II, 10:15am – at Village Books
19 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group, 5:30pm – at Village Books
19 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pearson Auditorium
20 – Bellingham – A Poetry Celebration with Egress Studio Press as Jed Myers reads from Between Dream and Flesh – 7:00pm – at Village Books
21 – Eugene, OR – Poetry for the People’s 3rd Saturday Reading Series with featured poets plus open mic – 5:00pm – at Tsunami Books
23 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
23 – Tacoma – Commencement Bay Haiku Meeting – 5:00pm – at King’s Books
28 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – Village Books Lynden
30 – Bellingham – Open Mic Night with Sean Dwyer – 7:00pm – at Village Books
31 – BIRTHDAY – Kim Addonizio
1-31 – August Poetry Postcard Fest
2 – Tulalip – First Thursday Poetry Series with featured poets and open mic – 6:00pm – at Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center Longhouse Room
3 – BIRTHDAY – Diane Wakoski
3 – Seattle – Master Class: Poetry and the News with Hilary Plum & Zach Savich – 6:30pm – at Open Books
5 – BIRTHDAY – Wendell Berry, Ron Silliman
5 – Portland, OR – Poetry Reading at Lents Farmers Market – 9:30 – 10:15am – at Lents International Farmers Market
9 – Seattle – Word Works: Ben Lerner – 7:00pm – at Hugo House
10 – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection presents the Distinguished Writer Series, with featured writer plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian
16 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pearson Auditorium
18 – Eugene, OR – Poetry for the People’s 3rd Saturday Reading Series with featured poets plus open mic – 5:00pm – at Tsunami Books
20 – BIRTHDAY – Heather McHugh
21 – Port Townsend – Third-Tuesday Poetry + Short-Shorts: an evening of 5-minute readings – 6:30pm – at Better Living Through Coffee
25 – Kent – 5th Annual Poets on the Farm – 1:00-4:00pm – at the Mary Olson Farm
27 – Bellingham – Open Mic Night with Sean Dwyer – 7:00pm – at Village Books
28 – BIRTHDAY – Rita Dove
5 – BIRTHDAY – Nicanor Parra
6 – Tulalip – First Thursday Poetry Series with featured poets and open mic – 6:00pm – at Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center Longhouse Room
7-9 – La Conner – Poets on the Coast
9 – Portland, OR – Poetry Reading at Lents Farmers Market – 9:30 – 10:15am – at Lents International Farmers Market
10 – BIRTHDAY – Mary Oliver
11 – BIRTHDAY – Ryler Dustin
14 – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection presents the Distinguished Writer Series, with featured writer plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian
18 – Port Townsend – Third-Tuesday Poetry + Short-Shorts: an evening of 5-minute readings – 6:30pm – at Better Living Through Coffee
19 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
20 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pearson Auditorium
21-22 – Bellingham – Bellingham SeaFeast presents the 3rd Annual FisherPoets on Bellingham Bay
24 – Bellingham – Open Mic Night with Sean Dwyer – 7:00pm – at Village Books
28-30 – Tieton – LiTFUSE
29-30 – Eugene, OR – The Oregon Poetry Association Annual Conference 2018 – at the Valley River Inn
3 – BIRTHDAY – Bill Porter (Red Pine)
4 – BIRTHDAY – James Bertolino
4 – Tulalip – First Thursday Poetry Series with featured poets and open mic – 6:00pm – at Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center Longhouse Room
5 – Seattle – Humanities Washington presents the 20th Anniversary of Seattle Bedtime Stories – 6:00pm – in the Spanish Ballroom at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel
5-7 – Edmonds – Write on the Sound Writers’ Conference
5-7 – Oceanside, OR – PDX Writers Autumn Retreat
12 – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection presents the Distinguished Writer Series, with featured writer plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian
14 – BIRTHDAY – Ocean Vuong
15 – BIRTHDAY – Kim Stafford
16 – Port Townsend – Third-Tuesday Poetry + Short-Shorts: an evening of 5-minute readings – 6:30pm – at Better Living Through Coffee
17 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
18 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pearson Auditorium
19 – Bellingham – SpeakEasy 22 – 7:00pm – at the Mount Baker Theatre, Encore Room
19-21 – Surrey, BC – 26th annual Surrey International Writers’ Conference
20 – Seattle – New England Review at 40: An Anniversary Reading – 7:00pm – at Open Books
21 – Seattle – A Reading & Reception for Stealing Light: A Raven Chronicles Anthology – 2:00pm – at Seattle Central Library
26-28 – Bellevue – Emerald City Writers’ Conference – at Westin Hotel
29 – Bellingham – Open Mic Night with Sean Dwyer – 7:00pm – at Village Books
1-30 – everywhere – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
1 – Tulalip – First Thursday Poetry Series with featured poets and open mic – 6:00pm – at Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center Longhouse Room
9 – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection presents the Distinguished Writer Series, with featured writer plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian
15 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pearson Auditorium
21 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
26 – Bellingham – Open Mic Night with Sean Dwyer – 7:00pm – at Village Books
2 – BIRTHDAY – Samuel Green
6 – Tulalip – First Thursday Poetry Series with featured poets and open mic – 6:00pm – at Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center Longhouse Room
14 – Tacoma – Puget Sound Poetry Connection presents the Distinguished Writer Series, with featured writer plus open mic – 7:00pm – at Immanual Presbyterian
2 – BIRTHDAY – Jimmy Santiago Baca
9 – BIRTHDAY – Kelli Russell Agodon
13 – BIRTHDAY – Megan Snyder-Camp
16 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
17 – BIRTHDAY – William Stafford
20 – BIRTHDAY – Bruce Beasley
22 – BIRTHDAY – Luther Allen
1-28 – everywhere – National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo)
1 – BIRTHDAY – Joannie Stangeland
4 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth Vignali
6 – BIRTHDAY – Rena Priest
19 – BIRTHDAY – Rick Barot
20 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
25 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth J. Colen
27 – BIRTHDAY – Oliver de la Paz
1-31 – Whatcom County – Submissions open for Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest
1-31 – everywhere – National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo)
1 – BIRTHDAY – Brenda Miller
12 – BIRTHDAY – Naomi Shihab Nye
18 – BIRTHDAY – Wilfred Owen
20 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
23 – BIRTHDAY – Lana Hechtman Ayers
26 – BIRTHDAY – Patrick Lane
27 – BIRTHDAY – Julia Álvarez, Dorothea Lasky
27–30, Portland, OR – AWP #19 – at the Oregon Convention Center
1-30 – National Poetry Month and NaPoWriMo
4 – BIRTHDAY – Anita K. Boyle
11 – BIRTHDAY – Maria McLeod
17 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
23 – BIRTHDAY – Coleman Barks
25 – BIRTHDAY – Ted Kooser
28 – BIRTHDAYS – Carolyn Forché, Roberto Bolaño
29 – BIRTHDAY – Yusef Komunyakaa
9 – BIRTHDAY – Charles Simic, Dan Chiasson
12 – BIRTHDAY – Bernadette Mayer
15 – West Seattle – Words West Literary series – 7:00pm – at C & P Coffee Co
31 – BIRTHDAY – Walt Whitman
7 – BIRTHDAY – Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni
November 7, 2013 at 6:41 pm
Hi: I’m with the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. How do we submit events to your calendar? Thanks!
November 7, 2013 at 7:20 pm
Have replied to you directly, but feel free to leave information here as comments, too. Thank you!
March 9, 2016 at 9:39 pm
Hi, I would love to submit a few events on behalf of Creative Colloquy, a literary journal based out of Tacoma, WA. Is it possible to get our Creative Colloquy call for submissions and upcoming events added?
March 12, 2016 at 10:27 am
Be delighted to include Creative Colloquy — and have in the past when I’ve happened across your events. Please check your email. I’ve sent you a note with details. Thanks!