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.

NOTE: In early July 2021, we checked with event organizers on plans for resuming in-person readings. You can find the post here.

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 – Camas – Poetry Open Mic Gathering – doors 6:15pm – at Camas Public Library

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

second & fourth Sundays – Bellingham – Gelato and Poetry – 2:00pm

last Sunday, September through May – River Road Reading Series – 4:30pm

23 – Gig Harbor – Greater Gig Harbor Poetry Series features Robert Lashley – 3:00pm

25 – online – Laura Davis, author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, with Ellen Bass – 6:00pm

26 – online – 22nd Annual Oregon Jewish Voices reading – 7:00pm

28-31 – Seabeck – Seabeck Haiku Getaway

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

2 – online – Literacy Breakfast with Nancy Pearl – 8:00am

2 – online – Paul Hlava Ceballos and Quenton Baker – 6:00pm

4 – online – Berkeley Lunch Poems presents Kaveh Akbar – Noon

5 – online – Event with the Washington State Poet Laureate – 8:

5 – online – Amanda Moore and Danielle Janess – 6:00pm

5 – Seattle & online – Sherwin Bitsui & Kenzie Allen: In‑Person & Online – 7:30pm

6 – online – Sarah Mangold and Stephanie Ellis Schlaifer – 5:00pm

8-13 – Portland, OR, and online – Portland Book Festival

10 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Kate Gray – 6:30pm

11 – online – Kate Lebo and Lisa Wells – 6:00pm

14 – online – African-American Writers’ Alliance Writers Read featuring Dr. Natalie Corthésy – 2:00pm

20 – online – Open Books presents Quenton Baker, Paul Hlava, and Jane Wong – 5:00pm

2 – BIRTHDAY – Samuel Green

2 – online – Berkeley Lunch Poems presents Callie Garnett – Noon

3 – online – SAL presents Rita Dove – 7:30pm

8 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Christopher Howell – 6:30pm

2 – BIRTHDAY – Jimmy Santiago Baca

9 – BIRTHDAY – Kelli Russell Agodon

12 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Ashley Toliver – 6:30pm

13 – BIRTHDAY – Megan Snyder-Camp

17 – BIRTHDAY – William Stafford

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

22 – BIRTHDAY – Luther Allen

29 – Poetry workshop with Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest; watch the Workshops page for description, location and other details to come

31 – BIRTHDAY – Albert Goldbarth

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

1 – BIRTHDAY – Joannie Stangeland

3 – online – Berkeley Lunch Poems presents Sandra Lim – Noon

4 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth Vignali

5 – Poetry workshop with Seth Harris; watch the Workshops page for description, location and other details to come

6 – BIRTHDAY – Rena Priest

9 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Doug Stone – 6:30pm

19 – BIRTHDAY – Rick Barot

19 – Poetry workshop with Tere Harrison; watch the Workshops page for description, location and other details to come

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

3 – online – Berkeley Lunch Poems presents Paul Tran – Noon

5 – BIRTHDAY – Leslie Marmon Silko

9 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Jessica Mehta – 6:30pm

12 – BIRTHDAY – Naomi Shihab Nye

18 – BIRTHDAY – Wilfred Owen

21 – everywhere – World Poetry Day

23 – BIRTHDAY – Lana Hechtman Ayers

23-26 – Philadelphia – AWP Conference and Bookfair

1-30 – National Poetry Month and NaPoWriMo

4 – BIRTHDAY – Anita K. Boyle

11 – BIRTHDAY – Maria McLeod

13 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Gary Lark – 6:30pm

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

11 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Margaret Chula – 6:30pm

12 – BIRTHDAY – Bernadette Mayer

14 – BIRTHDAY – Elizabeth Austen, Lea Galanter

24 – BIRTHDAY – Tom Phillips; Lorna Crozier

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)

7 – BIRTHDAYS – Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni

8 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Jennifer Perrine – 6:30pm

16 – Ireland & elsewhere – Bloomsday

21 – BIRTHDAY – Sheila Sondik

2 – BIRTHDAY – Wisława Szymborska

9 – BIRTHDAY – Susan Rich

13 – online – The Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Ann Staley – 6:30pm

16 – BIRTHDAY – Robert Lashley

31 – BIRTHDAY – Kim Addonizio

1-31 – Poetry Postcard Fest

1-31 – The Sealey Challenge

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

3 – BIRTHDAY – Bill Porter (Red Pine)

4 – BIRTHDAY – James Bertolino, Susan J. Erickson

14 – BIRTHDAY – Ocean Vuong

15 – BIRTHDAY – Kim Stafford