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, description, venue, link for more information.
For additional listings in the region, please visit these reliable (i.e., frequently updated) lists:
PoetsWest ~ Live Poetry Venues
Village Books, Bellingham ~ offers a variety of writing groups and writers’ workshops and classes (in collaboration with Chuckanut Writers) each month
Mondays in Bellingham – poetrynight featured poet and open mic
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 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
22 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – Waples Room at the Inn at Lynden
24 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
24 – Corvallis, OR – The Art of the Submission, presented by Laura Stanfill – 6:30pm – at First Presbyterian Church, Allison Room
24 – Seattle – Poet Alexandra Teague reads from her debut novel, The Principles Behind Flotation (Skyhorse) – 7:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
25 – Seattle – Anastacia-Reneé celebrates the publication of Forget It with Jane Wong, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore & Shankar Narayan – 7:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
27 – Port Townsend – Northwind Reading Series presents An Evening with Jerry Martien – 7:00pm – at Northwind Arts Center
27 – Portland, OR – Poets Sarah Bokich, Vargus Pike, and Tricia Knoll – 7:00pm – at Another Read Through
28 – Portland, OR – Gobshite Quarterly Launch – 7:00pm – at Mother Foucault’s Bookshop
28 – Salem, OR – Last Friday Poetry Group presents John Sibley Williams – 7:00pm – at The Book Bin
29 – Bainbridge – The Written Image: Blending Poetry with the Visual Arts – 11:00am – at Bainbridge BARN
31 – Bellingham – Open Mic with Laurel Leigh, 7:00pm – at Village Books
1-31 – August Poetry Postcard Fest
4-6 – Portland, OR – Willamette Writers Conference – at Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel
4 – Seattle – Reading by poet Camille Dungy – 7:00pm – at The Elliott Bay Book Company
5 – everywhere – The Poetry Marathon
7 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
CANCELLED – see note – 8 – Bellingham – Booked at the Baker presents Sherman Alexie, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me – 7:00pm – at Mount Baker Theatre – EVENT CANCELLED
8 – Seattle – Reading with Melissa Dickey, Andy Stallings & Jay Thompson – 7:00pm – at Open Books
9 – Bellingham – Whatcom Writers and Publishers monthly dinner meeting with speaker – 5:30pm – at Nicki’s Bella Marina
9 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
12 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – Waples Room at the Inn at Lynden
13 – Portland, OR – Studio Series: Poetry Reading & Open Mic presents Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, and Tiffany Burba – 7:00pm – at Stonehenge Studios
14 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
16 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group II, 10:15am – at Village Books
16 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
16 – Olympia – Olympia Poetry Network third-Wednesday reading with featured poet and open mic – 6:30pm – at Traditions Fair Trade
16 – Seattle – Matthew Zapruder reads from Why Poetry – 7:00pm – at Hotel Sorrento
16 – West Seattle – WordsWest Literary Series – 7:00pm – C & P Coffee
16 – Woodinville – PoetsWest at the Creekside, every 3rd Wednesday – 7:00pm – at The Creekside
17 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Poetry Writing Group, 5:30pm – at Village Books
17 – Portland, OR – Third-Thursday COMMA Reading Series – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
18 – Seattle – Anastacia Reneé Tolbert Reading – 7:00pm – at Hugo House
20 – Seattle – Reading with T’ai Freedom Ford, Imani Sims & Samiya Bashir – 7:00pm – at Open Books
26 – Lynden – VB Writes…Nooksack River Writing Group – 10:00am – Waples Room at the Inn at Lynden
28 – Bellingham – VB Writes…Prompts – 4:00pm – at Village Books
28 – Bellingham – Open Mic with Laurel Leigh, 7:00pm – at Village Books
31 – Seattle – Reading with Hoa Nguyen – 7:00pm – at Open Books
8-10 – Cumberland, BC – Cascadia Poetry Festival
10 – Portland, OR – Studio Series: Poetry Reading & Open Mic presents Constance Hall and Judith Arcana – 7:00pm – at Stonehenge Studios
13 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
15 – Seattle – Reading with Carolina Ebeid & Charif Shanahan – 7:00pm – at Open Books
20 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
20 – Olympia – Olympia Poetry Network third-Wednesday reading with featured poet and open mic – 6:30pm – at Traditions Fair Trade
20 – West Seattle – WordsWest Literary Series – 7:00pm – C & P Coffee
20 – Woodinville – PoetsWest at the Creekside, every 3rd Wednesday – 7:00pm – at The Creekside
21 – Portland, OR – Third-Thursday COMMA Reading Series – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
22-24 – Tieton – LiTFUSE
26 – Seattle – Reading with Mark Tardi & Ryo Yamaguchi – 7:00pm – at Open Books
29 – Seattle – Reading with Meghan McClure & Michael Schmeltzer – 7:00pm – at Open Books
30 – everywhere – 100,000 Poets for Change (also on Facebook)
1 – Bow – Writing Matters: Generating New Work & Publishing Salon with Susan Rich – 2:00 – 5:00pm – at Harmony Fields
2 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
9 – Bellingham – Poetry Postcards: a panel and conversation (details to come) – 7:00pm – at Mount Baker Theatre, Encore Room
11 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
12 – Portland, OR – Portland Arts & Lectures presents George Saunders – 7:30pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
12-15 – Tacoma – 5th Annual Cascadia Poetry Festival – various venues
13-15 – Portland, OR – Oregon Poetry Association 2017 Conference – at University Place Hotel
18 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
18 – Olympia – Olympia Poetry Network third-Wednesday reading with featured poet and open mic – 6:30pm – at Traditions Fair Trade
18 – West Seattle – WordsWest Literary Series – 7:00pm – C & P Coffee
18 – Woodinville – PoetsWest at the Creekside, every 3rd Wednesday – 7:00pm – at The Creekside
26-29 – Seabeck – Seabeck Haiku Getaway – at Seabeck Conference Center
1-30 – everywhere – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
6 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
8 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
15 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
15 – Olympia – Olympia Poetry Network third-Wednesday reading with featured poet and open mic – 6:30pm – at Traditions Fair Trade
15 – West Seattle – WordsWest Literary Series – 7:00pm – C & P Coffee
15 – Woodinville – PoetsWest at the Creekside, every 3rd Wednesday – 7:00pm – at The Creekside
16 – Portland, OR – Portland Arts & Lectures presents Reza Aslan – 7:30pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
4 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
13 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
20 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
20 – West Seattle – WordsWest Literary Series – 7:00pm – C & P Coffee
20 – Woodinville – PoetsWest at the Creekside, every 3rd Wednesday – 7:00pm – at The Creekside
17 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
18 – Portland, OR – Portland Arts & Lectures presents Jesmyn Ward – 7:30pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
1-28 – everywhere – National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo)
8 – Portland, OR – Portland Arts & Lectures presents Claudia Rankine – 7:30pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
15 – Pendleton, OR – First Draft Writers’ Series presents Ruby Hansen Murray – 7:00pm – at Pendleton Center for the Arts
21 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
1-31 – Whatcom County – Submissions open for Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest
1-31 – everywhere – National Novel Editing Month (NaNoEdMo)
7-10 – Tampa, FL – AWP Conference & Bookfair – at Tampa Convention Center & Marriott Tampa Waterside
21 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
1-30 – National Poetry Month and NaPoWriMo
8 – Portland, OR – Portland Arts & Lectures presents Viet Thanh Nguyen – 7:30pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
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!