Your Week in Virtual Book Events, Jan. 25th-Jan. 31st

Hay Festival — Cartagena, Colombia Digital 2021
Monday, January 25th – Sunday, January 31st
Hay Festival Cartegena de Indias 2021 is a free, digital literary festival celebrating global literary stars, Nobel Prize-winners and internationally acclaimed performers leading a line-up that encompasses 160 speakers from 16 countries in 120 events over ten days. For younger book lovers, Hay Festivalito and Hay Communitario feature free workshops, talks, and activities with writers and illustrators from around the world. Nobel Prize-winner Esther Duflo (Good Economics for Hard Times), novelists Juan Gabriel Vásquez (The Shape of the Ruins), André Aciman (Homo Irrealis), and Isabel Allende (The Soul of a Woman), Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other), graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi (Chicken with Plums), and actor Javier Bardem represent some of the talent participating in the virtual festival. Free. Register here.

Forget Your Troubles with Harper, Macmillan, and Workman!
Monday, January 25th, 4:00pm EST
Publishing Houses HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Workman will host an author panel and a book buzz session of “happy” reading recommendations in this virtual event. Authors Sara Nisha Adams (The Reading List), Jayci Lee (The Dating Dare), and Polly Samson (A Theater for Dreamers) will discuss their uplifting works. Free, via Crowdcast.

The Art of Poetry: A Virtual Open Mic Night Experience
Monday, January 25th, 7:00pm EST
The Detroit Writing Room presents a virtual open mic night hosted by Detroit Writing Room house poet Krystalle (aka Kompozition) that encourages creatives of all genres to share the words they’ve written/are writing during the pandemic. All poets, singer-songwriters, and storytellers are welcome to participate with registration linked below. Tune in to watch one event for $5, or $15 for access to all four sessions. Free, via Zoom.

Virtual Visiting Writer Reading: Jess Row
Monday, January 25th, 7:00pm EST
Vermont Studio Center welcomes visiting author Jess Row (White Flights) for a virtual reading. Via Zoom. Free, with registration.

André Aciman, Homo Irrealis, Book Event with Paul LeClerk
Monday, January 25th, 9:00pm EST
André Aciman, author of “Call Me by Your Name”, speaks about his new essay collection, Homo Irrealis with Paul LeClerk for the Elliott Bay Book Company. Free. Register here.

Skylit: The Inland Sea by Madeline Watts, with Amina Cain
Monday, January 25th, 9:30pm EST
Skylit Books welcomes Australian author, Madeline Watts, to discuss her debut novel, The Inland Sea. She will be joined in discussion with author Amina Memory Cain (Indelicacy). Free, via Crowdcast.

Brooklyn Poetry Slam
Tuesday, January 26th, 6:30pm EST
Writers, organizers, and co-founders Mahogany L. Browne (Chlorine Sky) and Jive Poetic will host the digital return of The Brooklyn Poetry Slam featuring Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang (Hybrida). Free, with registration.

Damion Searls
Tuesday, January 26th, 6:30pm EST
Acclaimed translator Damion Searls presents his latest work, a groundbreaking new translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, with Eric Lorberer, editor of Rain Taxi. Free, via Crowdcast.

The Power of Poetry in America
Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00pm EST
The Center for Imagination in the Borderlands from Arizona State University welcomes a reading and conversation between two Poet Laureates of the United States: Joy Harjo (An American Sunrise) and Natasha Trethewey (Monument) in celebration of their work as well as a welcoming of Harjo as the first Native person to hold the position as she begins her third year as national Poet Laureate. Free. Register here.

amanda lovelace in conversation with Parker Lee
Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00pm EST
amanda lovelace, the bestselling and award-winning author of Women Are Some Kind of Magic series, launches the second installment in her feminist poetry series You Are Your Own Fairy Tale, titled Shine Your Icy Crown. She will be joined in conversation with her partner, pro-wrestler-turned-poet Parker Lee (coffee days whiskey nights). There will be an audience Q&A to follow. Free, via Crowdcast.

Latinx & Proud! Reading Series ft. Sundress Publications
Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00pm EST
City of Asylum presents the 2021 installment of the Latinx and Proud! Reading Series featuring authors from Sundress Publications. féi hernandez (Hood Criatura), Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo (Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge), Rodney Gomez (Geographic Tongue), Sarah A. Chavez (Hands That Break & Scar). Free, via Crowdcast.

An Evening with Rebecca Makkai
Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00pm EST
2019 Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rebecca Makkai will discuss her book The Great Believers and her journey to becoming an author. Hosted by the Galena Public Library District. Free, via Zoom.

January U35 Virtual Reading 
Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00pm EST
U35 is a bi-monthly reading series for poets under 35 from Mass Poetry. Poets Myles Taylor, Troy Veal, Hassan Ghanny, and Nihal Mubarak will read their work. Free, with registration.

Radical Thinkers: Simon Han and Tahseen Shams
Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00pm EST
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop kicks off their first installment of the Radical Thinkers series, in which radical academics join directly in conversation with trailblazing writers, poets, and artists to interrogate the most pressing issues facing Asian diasporic communities. Novelist Simon Han (Nights When Nothing Happened) and scholar Tahseen Shams (Here, There, and Elsewhere) will discuss their creative and scholarly processes, as well as immigrant relationships to time and place. Free. Register here.

The Adroit Journal Issue 36: Release Reading
Tuesday, January 26th, 8:00pm EST
The Adroit Journal will host a reading to celebrate the release of their thirty-sixth issue. Readers include issue contributors Ellen Bass (Indigo), Ethan Chatagnier (Warnings From The Future), Martha Collins (Because What Else Could I Do), Ghinwa Jawhari, Aurielle Marie (Gumbo Ya Ya), Nkosi Nkululeko, and Lydia Wei. Free, via Zoom.

The McElroys: Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You) Book Event
Tuesday, January 26th, 9:00pm EST
Brookline Booksmith welcomes the McElroys — Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, hosts of the podcast/tv show My Brother, My Brother, and Me, as they celebrate the launch of their new how-to book, Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You). Free. Register and order your book copy by January 25th at 4:00 PM EST here. 

Skylit: Transcendent Waves by Lavender Suarez, with Bibbe Hansen
Tuesday, January 26th, 9:30pm EST
Sound healing practitioner, meditation teacher, and artist Lavender Suarez will discuss her first book, Transcendent Waves: How Listening Shapes Our Creative Lives, with artist and Warhol star, Bibbe Hansen, for Skylit Books. Free, via Crowdcast.

Poetry Reading with Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan
Wednesday, January 27th, 12:00pm EST
The Heong Gallery at Downing College and their student-run event team, Gloria, will host this online poetry reading with educator, writer, and poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan (Postcolonial Banter). Free, via Zoom. Live translation will be available through YouTube.

Read Your Mind: You Are Enough
Wednesday, January 27th, 12:00pm EST
Read Your Mind is a monthly, virtual series from the Portland Maine Public Library focusing on teen mental health and wellness, featuring YA authors and community health experts. January’s featured book is You Are Enough: Your Guide to Body Image and Eating Disorder Recovery by Jen Petro-Roy. Jen will be interviewed in this digital event by fellow YA author Kim Savage (After the Woods). Nutritionist Amy Taylor-Grimm will also be featured. Free. Via Zoom.

Read the Room: Debuts Now in Paperback
Wednesday, January 27th, 6:00pm EST
Loyalty Bookstores and Tom Doherty Associates present the inaugural panel of the Read the Room event series featuring Charlotte Nicole Davis (The Good Luck Girls), Louise Callaghan (Father of Lions), Rita Woods (Remembrance), and A.K. Larkwood (The Unspoken Name) for a discussion on having a debut novel during 2020. Author TJ Klune (The House in the Cerulean Sea) will moderate. Free, via Crowdcast.

Three Acclaimed Able Muse Press Authors Read: Green, Leithauser, Thomas
Wednesday, January 27th, 7:00pm EST
Carrie Green, Hailey Leithauser (Swoop), and Sally Thomas (Richeldis of Walsingham), authors from Able Muse Press will read. Poet Katie Hartsock (Bed of Impatiens: Poems) will host the event. Free. Register here.

Buzz Books Editors Panel
Wednesday, January 27th, 7:00pm EST
Publishers Lunch and the American Booksellers Association presents an evening of books as editors describe their forthcoming titles in conversation with their breakout authors. Featuring authors Flynn Berry (Northern Spy), Kaitlyn Greenidge (Libertie), Gabriela Garcia (Of Women and Salt), Miranda Cowley Heller (The Paper Palace), Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois), Carolyn Ferrell (Dear Miss Metropolitan), and Erin French (Finding Freedom). Co-hosts for the event are New Yorker staff cartoonist Roz Chast and writer Patricia Marx (You Can Only Yell At Me For One Thing At a Time). Jake Cumsky-Whitlock of Solid State Books will moderate. Free, with registration.

Kundiman 2020 Mentorship Lab Reading
Wednesday, January 27th, 7:00pm EST
The Kundiman Mentorship Lab supports nine emerging writers working in Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry. This six-month program will culminate in a final fellowship reading in partnership with Books Are Magic. Mentorship Fellows Huiying B. Chan, Veasna Has, Promiti Islam, t. tran le, Christopher James Llego, Yasmin Adele Majeed, Ayesha Raees (Coining The Wishing Tower), Sarah Wang, and Wilson Wong will read alongside their mentors: Hala Alyan (The Twenty-Ninth Year), Gina Apostol (The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata), Ching-In Chen (recombinant), and Mayukh Sen (Taste Makers). Free, with registration.

Drinking Gourd Chapbook Launch: Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Wednesday, January 27th, 8:00pm EST
Poetry Foundation celebrates the launch of Darrel Alejandro Holnes’ chapbook, Migrant Psalms, winner of the 2021 Drinking Gourd Chapbook Prize. Free. Register here.

Authors in Conversation: Susan Meissner, Fiona Davis, Julia Claiborne Johnson, and Renee Rosen
Wednesday, January 27th, 8:00pm EST
Exile in Bookville will host a historical fiction author panel featuring  Susan Meissner (The Nature of Fragile Things), Fiona Davis (The Lions of Fifth Avenue), Julia Claiborne Johnson (Better Luck Next Time), and Renee Rosen (The Social Graces). The conversation will be moderated by speaker and blogger, Lauren Margolin. Free, via Zoom and Facebook Live.

Meet KU’s Authors: Tony Bolden, Groove Theory
Wednesday, January 27th, 8:30pm EST
The Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas and the Lawrence Public Library presents an author talk with Tony Bolden (Groove Theory: The Blues Foundation of Funk), Associate Professor of African American Studies, on the history and scholarship of funk music. Free, via Crowdcast.

The Echoing Ida Collective
Wednesday, January 27th, 9:00pm EST
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers will host an evening of discussion celebrating the launch of the new book, The Echoing Ida Collection, published by Feminist Press and edited by Kemi Alabi, Cynthia R. Greenlee, and Janna A. Zinzi. Free, with registration.

Skylit: How Civic Action Works by Paul Lichterman
Wednesday, January 27th, 9:30pm EST
Author and professor Paul Lichterman will discuss his new book, How Civic Action Works: Fighting for Housing in Los Angeles, with Skylit Books. Free, via Crowdcast.

Literary Arts: Madeline Miller
Wednesday, January 27th, 10:30pm EST
Seattle Arts & Lectures welcomes bestselling author Madeline Miller (Circe) for a live discussion and Q&A moderated by Kristen Millares Young, author of the novel Subduction. Tickets are based on a pay-what you-can pricing scale ranging from $10 to $100, based upon what feels right to the viewer and the number of viewers per household. Register here.

Rest and Reset: Poetry Open Mic with Kai Isaiah Jamal
Thursday, January 28th, 1:30pm EST
British spoken word poet/performer Kai Isaiah Jamal will share his poetry on IG Live. Hosted by gal—dem magazine. Free. Register here.

Joy Harjo at Peninsula College Studium Generale
Thursday, January 28th, 3:30pm EST
National Poet Laureate, author, and acclaimed musician Joy Harjo (An American Sunrise) will read poetry and join in conversation with students from the First Nations Club at Peninsula College. Free, via Zoom.

Writers on the Rise: Kosiso Ugwueze
Thursday, January 28th, 7:00pm EST
Writers on the Rise is a spotlight reading series from the Vermont Studio Center designed to uplift and amplify the diverse talent of a wide range of voices and creative visions. Pushcart Prize-nominated fiction writer and editor Kosiso Ugwueze will read her work. Free, with registration.

Matthew Salesses with Laura van den Berg: Craft in the Real World
Thursday, January 28th, 7:00pm EST
Writer Matthew Salesses will discuss his new book, Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping, rethinking craft and the teaching of it away from Western traditions of the writing workshop as we know it. The conversation will be moderated by fiction author Laura van den Berg (I Hold a Wolf by the Ears). Presented by Brookline Booksmith. Free, via Zoom.

Martín Espada with Carlos Andrés Gómez: Floaters Book Launch
Thursday, January 28th, 7:00pm EST
Award-winning poets Martín Espada and Carlos Andrés Gómez (Fractures) will join in conversation for the launch of Espada’s latest collection, Floaters. Hosted by Books Are Magic. Free. Register here.

Laurie Halse Anderson Virtual Event
Thursday, January 28th, 7:00pm EST
Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures welcomes bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson for a virtual discussion of her newest book, SHOUT, a poetic memoir with a call to action for the #MeToo era. This event will be closed captioned. Free. Reserve a ticket here.

Peter Gizzi in conversation with CA Conrad
Thursday, January 28th, 9:00pm EST
City Lights Booksellers and Publishers will host a reading for Peter Gizzi as he reads from his new collection, Now It’s Dark: New Poems, and joins in conversation with essayist and poet CA Conrad (JUPITER ALIGNMENT: [Soma]tic Poetry Rituals). Free, with registration.

Skylit: Outlawed by Anna North with Charles Yu
Thursday, January 28th, 9:30pm EST
Novelist Anna North will discuss her new book, Outlawed, with author Charles Yu (Interior Chinatown) for Skylit Books in this virtual event. Free. Via Crowdcast.

Jerald Walker: How to Make a Slave and Other Essays
Thursday, January 28th, 10:00pm EST
Author Jerald Walker and writer/radio producer Kevin Cartwright will discuss Walker’s new book and 2020 National Book Award Finalist, How to Make a Slave & Other Essays, followed by a Q&A. Presented by KPFA Radio 94.1 FM. Suggested donations of  $5-$20 are welcome through registration here.

Being and Justice in Black Poetry: A BreakBeat Poetics Conversation
Friday, January 29th, 3:00pm EST
Writer and editor, Maya Marshall, will lead a discussion with poets and activists Faylita Hicks (HoodWitch)and Amanda Johnston (Another Way to Say Enter), poet and scholar Joy Priest (HORSEPOWER), and poet and translator María Fernanda about the relationship between their identities, their art, and how they practice justice work as they tell their own stories. As part of the Denton Black Film Festival. Free, via Eventive.

Pittsburgh Launch: Show Us Your Papers Anthology
Friday, January 29th, 7:00pm EST
White Whale Bookstore will celebrate the launch of the Show Us Your Papers poetry anthology with a virtual reading. Contributors Denise Duhamel (Second Story), Julie Marie Wade (Just an Ordinary Woman Breathing), Liz Ahl (Beating the Bounds), Nancy Krygowski (The Woman in the Corner), Doralee Brooks (When I Hold You Up to the Light), Kayla Sargeson (First Red), Ellen McGrath Smith (Nobody’s Jackknife), Halsey Hyer, Sarah Williams-Devereux, and Valerie Bacharach (Ghost-Mother) will read alongside editors Cherise A. Pollard (Outsiders), Daniela Buccilli (What it Takes to Carry), and Wendy Scott (Soon I Will Build an Ark). Free, via Zoom.

Michelle Duster and Jacqueline Woodson: Ida B. the Queen
Friday, January 29th, 7:00pm EST
Michelle Duster will present her newest book, Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells, for The Strand Book Store. Joining her in conversation will be National Book Award-winner and New York Times-bestselling author Jacqueline Woodson (Red at the Bone). Free, via Crowdcast and Facebook. Register here.

Making Art and Joy: Writing in the New Year
Friday, January 29th, 7:00pm EST
Books Are Magic will host a reading and discussion of what it’s like to write nearly a year into the pandemic with Marcelo Hernandez Castillo (Children of the Land), Chase Berggrun (R E D), and Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn (A Fish Growing Lungs). Free, with registration.

Peach Mag and Nightboat Books Present s05e02: We Want It All
Friday, January 29th, 8:00pm EST
Peach Mag teams up with Nightboat Books for a virtual reading in celebration of the recent release of We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, hosted by the books’ editors Kay Gabriel and Andrea Abi-Karam. Contributors Faye Chevalier (FUTUR.TXT), Kamden Hilliard (henceforce), Miles A.M. Collins-Sibley, NM Esc (Last Week’s Weather Forecast Made Me Nervous), Stephen Ira, and Xandria Phillips (HULL) will read their works. Live with closed captioning. Free, with advance registration required. Via Zoom.

NEA Big Read Book Discussion: An American Sunrise
Saturday, January 30th, 1:00pm EST
Joy Harjo, current U.S. Poet Laureate and a member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation, will read work from her latest book, An American Sunrise: Poems. There will be a moderated Q&A discussion after. This event is part of the NEA Big Read program from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. Free, via Microsoft Teams. Register here.

Brownstone Poets
Saturday, January 30th, 2:00pm EST
Brownstone Poets will host a reading and open mic to support their annual print anthology and pay their featured artists. Poets JP Howard (SAY/MIRROR), Susana H. Case (Dead Shark on the N Train), and Sandra Yannone (Boats for Women) will feature for January’s event. Patricia Carragon (Angel Fire), editor-in-chief, will host. Free, via Zoom.

Well-Read Black Girl Book Club chats How We Get Free
Saturday, January 30th, 3:00pm EST
Loyalty Bookstore’s Well-Read Book Club chapter will discuss their January pick, How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, edited by Keeanga-Yamahatta. Free, with registration.

University Book Store presents The ABCs of Black History
Saturday, January 30th, 4:00pm EST
University Book Store welcomes author Rio Cortez in an afternoon conversation about her newest children’s title, The ABCs of Black History, with the illustrator of the book, Lauren Semmer. Free, via Zoom.

delta art book: launch and reading
Saturday, January 30th, 5:00pm EST
This event will celebrate the launch of 𝛿, an interactive art book created in collaboration by artist, composer, and engineer Eli Backer of yyyymmddhhmm and the writer niyati (Woman as Threat). The event will feature readings by Kiran Bath, Patricia Trigueros, and Onyinye Ukegbu, followed by the unveiling and presentation of 𝛿, a discussion of Eli and niyati’s collaborative process, and an open Q&A about art, writing, and creating an art book that commemorates time in times like these. Free, with registration.

Laser Cat/Vaser Cat Reading: K-Day Celebration
Saturday, January 30th, 7:00pm EST
White Whale Bookstore will celebrate the birthday of Kayla Sargeson (First Red) in a joint reading between the author and award-winning writer Jan Beatty (The Body Wars). Free, via Zoom.

Embodied Conflict Resolution and Loving Justice: A Virtual Reading with Kai Cheng Thom
Saturday, January 30th, 9:00pm EST
As part of her virtual residency with Open Space, writer, performer, and community worker Kai Cheng Thom (I Hope We Choose Love) will share a reading of her work — an illustrated essay called “What Is Loving Justice?” Free, with registration.

Reading and Discussion for Singing in The Dark: A Global Anthology of Poetry Under Lockdown
Sunday, January 31st, 3:00pm EST
The Writer’s Center welcomes the editors and contributors of Singing In The Dark: A Global Anthology of Poetry Under Lockdown for a reading of selections from the book and a discussion of the writing life during a pandemic. Hosted by editor Nishi Chawla, featuring international contributors Usha Akella (The Waiting), Ann Bracken (No Barking in the Hallways), Grace Cavalieri (What The Psychic Said), Raj Nair, Sabine Pascarelli (The Alchemy of Grief by Emily Ferrara), George Szirtes (The Photographer at Sixteen), and Diane Wilbon Parks (The Wisdom of Blue Apples). Free. Register here.

Tofik Dibi, with Nick Barr and Anu Taranath
Sunday, January 31st, 4:00pm EST
Moroccan-Dutch politician and writer Tofik Dibi will speak about his memoir Djinn with translator Nicolaas P. Barr and moderator Anu Taranath (Beyond Guilt Trips). Free. Register here.

An Afternoon with Jane Hirshfield and Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Sunday, January 31st, 4:00pm EST
The Hudson Valley Writers Center kicks off their Winter/Spring 2021 Reading Series with  award-winning poets Jane Hirshfield (Ledger) and Rachel Eliza Griffiths (Seeing the Body) for a reading and Q&A discussion. Free, via Zoom.

Skylit: Natalie Portman’s Fables
Sunday, January 31st, 6:15pm EST
Academy Award-winning actress, director, and producer Natalie Portman will retell three classic fables in this reading of her debut picture book, Natalie Porttman’s Fables, presented by Skylit Books. Free, via Crowdcast.

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