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 Bellingham – Acoustic Wednesdays with host JD Falcon 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
19 – Port Townsend – Port Townsend Launch: The Authenticity Experiment by Kate Carroll de Gutes – 7:00pm – at The Writers’ Workshoppe and Imprint Books
19 – Tacoma – Commencement Bay Haiku Meeting – 6:00pm – at King’s 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
21 – Portland, OR – Fo Po Poetry presents featured readers Gary Aker, Tricia Knoll, and Jac Nelson – 7:00pm – at Backstory Books
21 – Portland, OR – Silk Flowers: a reading of poetry//fiction//other – 7:00pm – at Passages Bookshop
21 – Seattle – Margin Shift Presents: Lashley, Perez, Bright, Brazil & Larsen – 6:30pm – at Common AREA Maintenance
22 – Anacortes – Finn Wilcox, poet, and Chuck Easton, jazz guitarist – 7:00pm – at Pelican Bay Books
22 – Bellingham – FisherPoets on Bellingham Bay – 7:00pm – at various venues
22 – Seattle – Reading with Amber Flame, Elaina Ellis & Roberto Ascalon – 7:00pm – at Open Books
22-24 – Tieton – LiTFUSE
23 – Seattle – Book Launch: E. J. Koh’s A Lesser Love – 7:00pm – at Hugo House
24 – Seattle – Poetry in Conversation on W. S. Merwin’s The Lice – 4:00pm – at Open Books
25 – Seattle – Easy Speak Seattle: open mic plus featured performer – 8:00pm – at Wedgwood Ale House and Cafe
26 – Portland, OR – Reading by contributors to The Timberline Review – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
26 – Seattle – Reading with Mark Tardi & Ryo Yamaguchi – 7:00pm – at Open Books
27 – Oct 1 – Victoria, BC – Victoria Festival of Authors
29 – Seattle – Reading with Meghan McClure & Michael Schmeltzer – 7:00pm – at Open Books
30 – everywhere – 100,000 Poets for Change (also on Facebook)
30 – Portland, OR – Spare Room reading: Larsen, Lawson & Sutter – 7:00pm – at Passages Bookshop
30 – Seattle – Launch Party for Hailey Higdon’s Rural (Drop Leaf Press) – 7:00pm – at Open Books
1 – Bow – Writing Matters: Generating New Work & Publishing Salon with Susan Rich – 2:00 – 5:00pm – at Harmony Fields
1 – Seattle – UW Bothell Fall Convergence Reading featuring Christian Bök, Jo Cook, and Joe Milutis – 2:00pm – at Open Books
1 – Tacoma – Glenna Cook Poetry Event celebrating the release of her new book, Thresholds – 2:00pm – at King’s Books
2 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
3 – Springfield, OR – The Springfield Poetry Series features poets Shelly Krehbiel, Michael Spring, and Amy Miller – 7:00pm – at Emerald Art Center
3 – Tacoma – Creative Colloquy Crawl: poetry and more – 6:00-9:00pm – various venues
4 – Bellingham – Reading with Kate Carroll de Gutes & Brenda Miller, The Authenticity Experiment: Lessons from the Best & Worst Year of My Life and An Earlier Life – 7:00pm – at Village Books
5 – Eugene, OR – Lane Community Writers Series – 5:30pm – at LCC Downtown campus
5 – Portland, OR – Marc Olmsted: Beat Poet Recollections – 7:00pm – at Mother Foucault’s Bookshop
5 – Portland, OR – Arn Strasser reads from his new collection, Incidental Longing – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
5 – Seattle – WA129 Anthology Reading – 7:00pm – at Open Books
5 – Tacoma – Penelope Scambly Schott & Julene Tripp Weaver Poetry Event – 7:00pm – at King’s Books
6 – Seattle – Reading: Lindsay Hill & Nathaniel Tarn – 7:00pm – at Open Books
8 – Portland, OR – The Studio Series: Poetry Reading and Open Mic will feature Tricia Knoll and Amanda Turner – 7:00pm – at Stonehenge Studios
8 – Seattle – Reading with Julie Carr & Lisa Olstein – 7:00pm – at Open Books
9 – Bellingham – Poetry Postcards: a panel and conversation – 7:00pm – at Mount Baker Theatre, Encore Room
9 – Seattle – Easy Speak Seattle: open mic plus featured performer – 8:00pm – at Wedgwood Ale House and Cafe
11 – Bellingham – Whatcom Writers & Publishers presents monthly dinner & speaker meeting – 5:30pm – at Nicki’s Bella Marina
11 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
11 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Henry Hughes – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
11 – Portland, OR – Richard Tillinghast reads from Journeys Into the Mind of the World: A Book of Places – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
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
12 – Tacoma – August Postcard Poetry Festival book launch for 56 Days of August – 7:00pm – at King’s Books
13-15 – Portland, OR – Oregon Poetry Association 2017 Conference – at University Place Hotel
13 – Seattle – Hugo House Word Works presents Mary Ruefle on imagination – 7:00pm – at The Frye Art Museum Auditorium
13 – Seattle – Reading with Robert Wrigley – 7:00pm – at Open Books
14 – Seattle – 2017 Washington State Book Awards – 7:00pm – at the Seattle Public Library, Central Library
17 – Seattle – Reading with CA Conrad & Dara Wier – 7:00pm – at Open Books
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
20 – Anacortes – Clem Starck, poet, and Brad Killion, acoustic guitarist – 7:00pm – at Pelican Bay Books
20 – Eugene, OR – Left Coast Poetry with CA Conrad, Dara Wier, Ty Conner – 7:30pm – at Slightly Coffee
20-22 – Portland, OR – 3rd Annual Airstream Poetry Festival – at the Sou’wester
20 – Seattle – Workshop with Anne Tardos – 6:30pm – at Open Books
23 – Seattle – Easy Speak Seattle: open mic plus featured performer – 8:00pm – at Wedgwood Ale House and Cafe
25 – Portland, OR – poetry with David Biespiel and Wendy Willis – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
26 – Seattle – Reading with Svetlana Beggs, Paula Cisewski & Matthew Minicucci – 7:00pm – at Open Books
26-29 – Seabeck – Seabeck Haiku Getaway – at Seabeck Conference Center
28 – Ashland, OR – Ashland Literary Arts Festival – 10:00am-4:00pm – at Hannon Library, SOU
28 – Bellingham – 6th Annual International Peace Poets pot luck dinner and Read-In – 5:00pm – 910 14th Street
28 – Seattle – Reading with Bruce Beasley – 7:00pm – at Open Books
29 – Seattle – Reading with David Biespiel & Wendy Willis – 7:00pm – at Open Books
1-30 – everywhere – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
1 – Seattle – Valerie Hsiung with Don Mee Choi, Jane Wong & Amaranth Borsuk – 7:00pm – at Hugo House
3 – Seattle – Book Launch Reading: Aaron Shurin’s Flowers & Sky – 7:00pm – at Open Books
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 – Whatcom Writers & Publishers presents monthly dinner & speaker meeting – 5:30pm – at Nicki’s Bella Marina
8 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
8 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Amy MacLennan – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
8 – Portland, OR – poetry with Carlos Reyes and William O’Daly – 7:00pm – at Broadway Books
9 – Seattle – Book Launch Reading: Alchemy for Cells & Other Beasts featuring poets Maya Jewell Zeller and Ellen Welcker, as well as the screening of a film by Rebecca Starkey – 7:00pm – at Open Books
13 – Seattle – Easy Speak Seattle: open mic plus featured performer – 8:00pm – at Wedgwood Ale House and 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
17 – Anacortes – poets Tim McNulty and Lorraine Healy – 7:00pm – at Pelican Bay Books
4 – Auburn – Striped Water Poets presents featured poet plus open mic the first Monday of the month – 7:00pm – at the Rainbow Café
6 – Seattle – Hugo House Word Works presents Jess Walter on narrative time – 7:00pm – at venue TBA
13 – Bellingham – Whatcom Writers & Publishers presents monthly writers cross-group holiday meeting – 5:30pm – at Nicki’s Bella Marina
13 – Bellingham – Chuckanut Sandstone Writers Theater second-Wednesday open mic – 6:30pm – at the Colophon Cafe
13 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Scot Siegel – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
15 – Anacortes – Robert Sund Poets House, readers to be announced – 7:00pm – at Pelican Bay Books
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
10 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Anatoly Molotkov – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
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
14 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Emmett Wheatfall – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
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
23 – Seattle – Hugo House Word Works presents Ruth Ozeki on the craft and art of writing – 7:00pm – at venue TBA
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
14 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Elizabeth Woody – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
21 – Bellingham – Creekside Open Mic – signups 6:00pm – at Creekside Cafe in the Sudden Valley Community Center
29 – Seattle – Hugo House Word Works presents Charles Johnson – 7:00pm – at venue TBA
1-30 – National Poetry Month and NaPoWriMo
11 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Ed Skoog – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
14 – Seattle – Hugo House Word Works presents Ada Limón on excavating loss – 7:00pm – at venue TBA
27 – Seattle – Poetry Series: McKibbens, Alire Sáenz, Zamora – 7:30pm – McCaw Hall
8 – Portland, OR – Portland Arts & Lectures presents Viet Thanh Nguyen – 7:30pm – at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
9 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Lex Runciman – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
17-20 – La Conner – 10th Biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival
13 – Milwaukie, OR – Milwaukie Poetry Series presents Judith Arcana – 7:00pm – at Pond House adjacent to the Milwaukie Ledding Library
1-31 – August Poetry Postcard Fest
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!