Your Week in Virtual Book Events, Oct. 26th to Nov. 1st

National Creative Writing Industry Conference: Irenosen Okojie Keynote Speech
Monday, October 26, 3:00pm EDT
Award-winning Nigerian British writer Irenosen Okojie (Nudibranch) will open the 6th National Creative Writing Industry Conference with a keynote speech. Presented by Comma Press in partnership with The Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. Register here. Free.

Neil Gaiman in conversation with Marlon James
Monday, October 26, 4:00pm EDT
Readers who purchase a copy of author Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Neil Gaiman Reader, will receive access to a recorded conversation between Gaiman and novelist Marlon James (Black Leopard, Red Wolf), as well as access to a live Q&A session. The book must be purchased through the host, Old Firehouse Books before the event. Reserve a virtual seat here.

Magical Feminism, an editorial discussion
Monday, October 26, 6:00pm EDT
Halimah Marcus (Horse Girls), executive director of Electric Literature discusses how magic works in practice, with trauma, and as a rhetorical device in fiction with fellow writers and editors Marie-Helene Bertino (Parakeet) and Elissa Washuta (White Magic). Tickets are $10, via Crowdcast.

Virtual Poet’s Corner: Live with Gabriel Ramirez
Monday, October 26, 7:00pm EDT
The (Virtual) Poet’s Corner is a free workshop for teens and adults to generate unique pieces with different styles and structures of poetry. This workshop will be led by poet, activist and teaching artist Gabriel Ramirez and presented by ¡Oye! Group. Free. Register here.

Transnational Series Presents: Jessica J. Lee and Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Monday, October 26, 7:00pm EDT
Writers Jessica J. Lee (Two Trees Make a Forest) and Aimee Nezhukumatathil (World of Wonders) will discuss their new books, family, home, and the natural world. As part of the Transnational Literature Series from brookline booksmith. Free, with option to donate and purchase the aforementioned books. Reserve a ticket here.

Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic | Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Monday, October 26, 7:00pm EDT
Sign up to watch or read in the AAWW’s first virtual open mic. Hosted by Kay Ulanday Barrett (More Than Organs) and Ashna Ali. With featured performances by poets Donika Kelly (Bestiary), Golden, and Mejdulene B. Shomali. Sign up here, via Zoom. Free.

Poetry’s Many Rooms: Dodge Poetry Festival
Tuesday, October 27, 3:00pm EDT
Poets Seema Reza (A Constellation of Half-Lives), Lauren Marie Schmidt (Filthy Labors), and Monika Sok (A Nail the Evening Hangs On) discuss Lucille Clifton’s idea that poetry is a house with many rooms, and how to help others find their room under poetry’s large roof. As part of the Dodge Poetry Festival. Access this event and others by reserving a free streaming pass, a pay-what-you-can all access pass, or a free education pass for students and educators. Passes can be acquired here.

Study and Struggle: Deconstructing Settler Colonialism and Borders
Tuesday, October 27, 7:00pm EDT
This is the third event in a series of Critical Conversations organized by the Study and Struggle  program and hosted by Haymarket Books. A mix of authors, professors, students, and community stakeholders will discuss how settler colonialism and border imperialism are foundational pillars of the US prison industrial complex and can reflect on ways to fight for abolition. Kelly Lytle Hernández (City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles), writer/organizer and citizen of the Oceti Sakowin Oyate nation Nick Estes, Harsha Walia (Undoing Border Imperialism) and Mississippi organizer Lorena Quiroz will discuss in this webinar moderated by Christine Castro. Free, with donations welcome to support the Immigrant Alliance for Justice & Equity of Mississippi. Register here.

Nobody’s Perfect: A Reading with Corinne Manning and Chavisa Woods
Tuesday, October 27, 10:00pm ET
Award-winning short story writers Corinne Manning (We Had No Rules) and Chavisa Woods (100 Times: A Memoir of Sexism) will read from their respective works for this event and discuss how they create flawed characters and non-traditional heroes. Presented by Hugo House. Free, via Zoom.

Suzzy Roche and Jane Hamilton: The Town Crazy
Wednesday, October 28, 1:00pm ET
For Bookends & Beginning’s latest installment of the Literary Lunchbreak series, singer/songwriter and author Suzzy Roche will talk about her newest book, The Town Crazy, alongside novelist Jane Hamilton (The Excellent Lombards). Free. Register here.

Reading and Conversation with Poet Shira Erlichman and Editor Carey Salerno
Wednesday, October 28, 6:30pm ET
Presented by Queens College MFA Program in Creative Writing & Literary Translation, Shira Erlichman will read from her most recently published book, Odes to Lithium, and discuss the editorial and publishing process with her editor, Carey Salerno of Alice James Books. Free, via Zoom. No registration necessary.

Pandemic Stories
Wednesday, October 28, 6:30pm ET
Bestselling journalist Richard Preston (The Hot Zone) discusses the past, present, and future of quarantine writing with novelists Laura van den Berg, Peng Shepherd, and Mike Chen. Free, via Zoom. Register here.

Spot the Fake Memoir: A Game of Two Truths and a Lie
Wednesday, October 28, 7:00pm ET
Electric Lit contributors Angela Chen (Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex), Lilly Dancyger (Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger), Deena ElGenaidi, Jeanna Kadlec, and Nina St. Pierre will attempt to pass autofiction off as memoir in a literary twist on the time-honored game, Two Truths and a Lie. Hosted by Jess Zimmerman (Basic Witches) and presented by Sipsmith London. Tickets are $10, via Crowdcast.

Susan Abulhawa’s Against the Loveless World
Wednesday, October 28, 7:00pm ET
Author Susan Abulhawa joins in conversation with Charlene McNary about her novel, Against the Loveless World. Organized by The Tuxedo Project. Register here. Free.

Sarah M. Broom in conversation with Saidiya Hartman
Wednesday, October 28, 7:00pm ET
Sarah M. Broom discusses her award-winning memoir, The Yellow House, with acclaimed scholar and author Saidiya Hartman (Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments) for the 92nd Street Y. Tickets start from $15. Reserve your spot here.

Joy Priest: Horsepower
Wednesday, October 28, 7:00pm ET
Presented by the Pitt Poetry Series, poet Joy Priest reads and discusses her recently published collection, Horsepower, on the AWP Youtube channel. Free.

Susan Briante and Metta Sáma
Wednesday, October 28, 8:00pm ET
Writers Susan Briante (Defacing the Monument) and Metta Sáma (Swing at your own risk) discuss the ethics of recording in terms of poetics, intertexuality, and documentation. Presented by the Poetry Project, via Zoom. Free.

Shelter in Place with David Leavitt
Wednesday, October 28, 8:00pm ET
PEN/Faulkner Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award finalist David Leavitt discusses his comedic new novel, Shelter in Place, for Books Inc. Free tickets, with option to buy Leavitt’s book or leave a donation. Via Zoom.

Creative Conversations: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Thursday, October 29, 2:30pm ET
Critically acclaimed Kenyan novelist, playwright, short story writer, and critic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o will read and discuss his work via Zoom. Presented by the University of Glasgow Creative Writing Programme and funded by the Ferguson Bequest. Free.

Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Roseberg Poetry Fellows Reading: Dodge Poetry Festival
Thursday, October 29, 5:00pm ET
The recipients of the 2020 Ruth Lilly/Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships will perform their works for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Featuring fellows Isabella Borgeson, Luther Hughes (Touched), Cyrée Jarelle Johnson (SLINGSHOT), Darius Simpson (Conversion Theory), and Khaty Xiong (Poor Anima). Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Fall 2020 Broadside Reading II: Leila Ortiz and Zefyr Lisowski
Thursday, October 29, 6:30pm ET
Two writers in collaboration with the Artists-in-Residence at the Center for Book Arts will convene for a series of online readings to feature the relationship of text, image, and design with a collection of limited edition letterpress-printed broadsides. Thursday’s readers will feature poets Leila Ortiz (A Mouth is not A Place) and Zefyr Lisowski (Blood Box) Curated by Joey De Jesus. Free. Register for a spot here.

Art Omi: Writers Virtual Reading
Thursday, October 29, 7:00pm ET
Art Omi: Writers Alumni-in-Residence will share their new and in-progress work produced during their recent residence at Art Omi in this virtual reading. Readers include Vibhuti Patel, Mikkel Rosengaard (The Invention of Ana), Joshua Furst (Revolutionaries), Jeremy Tiang (State of Emergency), Nayana Currimbhoy (Miss Timmins’ School for Girls), Allison Amend (Enchanted Islands), Chris Hosea (Double Zero), John Oakes, Maija Mäkinen, and Beena Kamlani. Register on Zoom. Free.

Roy G. Guzmán Virtual Poetry Reading
Thursday, October 29, 7:00pm ET
The UNCG MFA Writing Program presents a poetry reading by Roy G. Guzmán (Catrachos). Watch this reading online at 7pm on the UNCG MFA program’s Youtube channel.

Main Stage Reading: Tyehimba Jess and Charles Simic (Dodge Poetry Festival)
Thursday, October 29, 7:00pm ET
Pulitzer prize-winning poets Tyehimba Jess (Olio) and Charles Simic (Scribbled in the Dark) will read for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

WORD Bookstores and the Antibody Reading Series presents TINY NIGHTMARES
Thursday, October 29, 8:00pm ET
A virtual book launch for TINY NIGHTMARES, a collection of horror-inspired flash fiction pieces. Hosted by the book’s editors, Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto, with readings by Meg Elison (Find Layla), Rachel Heng (Suicide Club), editor and writerTroy L. Wiggins, and Stephen Graham Jones (The Only Good Indians). Free, via Crowdcast.

Sibling Rivalry Press reading: Kay Ulanday Barrett, Amir Rabiyah, Bradley Trumpfheller
Thursday, October 29, 8pm ET
Hosted by Women & Children First, this event will feature poetry readings from Kay Ulanday Barrett (More Than Organs), Amir Rabiyah (Prayers for my 17th Chromosome), and Bradley Trumpfheller (Reconstructions) — all recently published authors at Sibling Rivalry Press. Free, via Crowdcast. Register here.

Random House presents: Halloween
Thursday, October 29, 8pm ET
Moderated by Random House assistant director Maya Battle, this event will include Halloween-esque offerings from authors and creators including a spell session with Jamie Della (The Book of Spells), a tarot reading with Yoshi Yoshitani (Tarot of the Divine), and a reading featuring K-Ming Chang (Bestiary), Julia Heaberlin (We Are All the Same in the Dark), Naomi Novik (A Deadly Education) and Francesca Serritella (Ghosts of Harvard). Tickets are $10, which includes event access, a virtual swag bag with discount codes, entry into two raffles, and spooky themed Zoom backgrounds. Purchase your tickets here.

Mirror/Blossom/Urn/Collage (Dodge Poetry Festival)
Thursday, October 29, 8pm ET
Moderated by Grisel Y. Acosta (Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere), poets Tyehimba Jess (Olio), Aurielle Marie (Gumbo Ya-Ya), John Murillo (Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry), and Charles Simic (Scribbled in the Dark) discuss how our expectations of a poem shapes our ideas of what a poem is/might be and how/what we write, as well as how to challenge those assumptions as both readers and writers. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

The Poetry Project presents Yanyi and Juliana Spahr
Thursday, October 29, 8pm ET
Yanyi (The Year of Blue Water) and Julianna Spahr (That Winter the Wolf Came) recontextualize American poetry and the capitalist machinery of cultural production it is tethered to in this virtual event. Free, via Zoom.

Poetry and Poems in Support of Black Lives
Friday, October 30, 3:00pm ET
Academy of American Poets Chancellors Terrance Hayes and Kwame Dawes host a forum on the poet’s obligation to record and to leave a record of experiences as radical, revolutionary, and urgent. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Words From the Beyond
Friday, October 30, 7:00pm ET
Join Flying Books as a dark grid of writers composes a story prompted by ~the spirits~. AKA Mischief Night, AKA Devil’s Night, AKA, for some reason, Cabbage Night (in Cincinnati), our medium, Galen Hook, will lead an online “automatic” story writing session. After Hook calls upon ~the spirits~ to provide the first word of a story, participating writers will contribute lines, scaring the wits out of each other until the spirits say THE END. Zoom. To obtain a ticket, simply buy any book, class, or gift card in our online store, and we’ll email you your ticket. Or, you can purchase a ticket for $10.

R.L. Stine National Book Launch
Friday, October 30, 7:00pm ET
Hosted by Gramercy Books, join R.L. Stine in conversation with two students of his middle school alma mater, Bexley Middle School, on his recent debut graphic novel Just Beyond: Welcome to Beast Island. Bexley students Nandni Patel and Ben Stebenne will ask questions in a live Q&A on the seeds of Stine’s writing career. Admission to the event is $15, which includes a copy of R.L. Stine’s book. Via Zoom.

Potions, Poltergeists, & Prose: A Halloween Reading
Friday, October 30, 7:00pm ET
A virtual reading of Halloween inspired poetry and prose. Featuring Madeline Anthes (Now We Haunt This Home Together), Shannon Frost Greenstein (More), Kailey Tedesco (Lizzie, Speak), fiction writer and essayist Lauren D. Woods, Christina Rosso (She is a Beast), Maura Lee Bee (Peter & the Concrete Jungle), writer and editor K.B. Carle, and Ash Miranda (dolores in spanish is pain, dolores in lolita is a girl). Suggested $5 Donation to pay readers. Via Zoom.

Open Mouth Festival Reading
Friday, October 30, 8:00pm ET
The annual Open Mouth Reading Series Poetry Festival goes virtual, with readings by Michael Torres (An Incomplete List of Names), Jessica Abughattas (Strip), Eloisa Amezcua (From the Inside Quietly), Shannon Sankey (We Ran Rapturous) and Allison Joseph (The Last Human Heart). The event will be captioned with an ASL interpreter and access copies of poems read provided via Google Docs. Free, with suggested donation to support the reading series, interpreters and featured poets. Register here.

Where Speech Fails: Cornelius Eady, Edward Hirsch, Paisley Rekdal
Friday, October 30, 8:00pm ET
Poets Cornelius Eady (Hardheaded Weather), Edward Hirsch (Stranger by Night), and Paisley Rekdal (Nightingale) explore how being at a loss for words might lead to poetry and to reach for that something being speech. Moderated by Perennials podcast host Victoria Russell. As part of the Dodge Poetry Festival. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Creative Conversations: Bernardine Evaristo
Friday, October 30, 9:00pm ET
Award-winning author and activist Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other) will read and discuss her work for Creative Conversations. Free, via Zoom.

Zoeglossia Reading (Dodge Poetry Festival)
Saturday, October 31, 2:00pm ET
Curated by Zoeglossia, a new literary organization that seeks to pioneer an inclusive space for poets with disabilities, this reading will feature poets Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (Burn), Travis Chi Wing Lau (Paring), Lateef H. McLeod (Declaration of a Body of Love), and Ellen McGrath Smith (Nobody’s Jackknife) for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Moderated by Connie Voisine (The Bower). Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Halloween Reading: “The Horror is Us” and “Horror Noire”
Saturday, October 31, 7:00pm ET
Hosted by White Whale Bookstore, contributors from The Horror is Us, a new anthology of short stories from Mason Jar Press, will read their work. Contributors include Justin Sanders, Taylor Sykes, and Laura Walker. They will be joined by Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman, the author of Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890’s to Present. Tickets are free, with option to donate. Via Zoom.

Main Stage Readings: Reginald Dwayne Betts, Richard Blanco, and Nikky Finney
Saturday, October 31, 7:00pm ET
Acclaimed poets Reginald Dwayne Betts (Felon), Richard Blanco (How to Love a Country), and Nikky Finney (Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry) will read for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Open Mouth Festival Reading II
Saturday, October 31, 8:00pm ET
Day two of the annual Open Mouth Reading Series Poetry Festival, with readings by Benjamin Garcia (Thrown in the Throat), Meg Day (Last Psalm at Sea Level), Jihyun Yun (Some Are Always Hungry), Callista Buchen (Look Look Look), Leila Chatti (Deluge) and Rome Hernández Morgan. The event will be captioned with an ASL interpreter and access copies of poems read provided via Google Docs. Free, with suggested donation to support the reading series, interpreters and featured poets. Register here.

Voices that Haunt Us
Saturday, October 31, 8:00pm ET
The Dodge Poetry Festival presents a Halloween group reading of poems in the spirit of All Soul’s Day and the Day of the Dead. Poets will honor their poetic ancestors by reading a poem written by a poet no longer with us, following with a poem of their own written in the spirit of, in response to, or influenced by an important ancestor. Charles Simic (Scribbled in the Dark), Natalie Diaz (Postcolonial Love Song), Carolyn Forché (In the Lateness of the World), Kyle Dargan (Anagnorisis), Emily Skaja (BRUTE), Cornelius Eady (Hardheaded Weather), Oliver de la Paz (The Boy in the Labyrinth), and more will read. Featuring special musical guest, the Newark Boys Chorus. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

A Mizna Reading at Dodge Poetry Festival
Sunday, November 1, 12:00pm EST
Mizna: Prose, Poetry, and Art Exploring Arab America presents a lineup of today’s most compelling Muslim and Southwest Asian and North African poets for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Writers Ifrah Mansour, Sagirah Shahid, and Moheb Soliman will read. Register here. Free.

Spells and Invocations/Poetry’s Power to Bless, Curse, Conjure, and Inspire
Sunday, November 1, 1:00pm EST
Poets Oliver de La Paz (The Boy in the Labyrinth), Camonghne Felix (Build Yourself a Boat), Carolyn Forché (In the Lateness of the World), and Ada Limón (The Carrying) will share and discuss poems that are steeped in myth and ritual, as well as sacred texts and spells in poems. Moderated by Ruth Irupé Sanabria (Beasts Behave in a Foreign Land) for the Dodge Poetry Festival. Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Masks and Masculinity
Sunday, November 1, 2:00pm EST
For the Dodge Poetry Festival, Richard Blanco (How to Love a Country), Tyehimba Jess (Olio), Edgar Kunz (Tap Out), and John Murillo (Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry) discuss how poetry helps to navigate societal demands of masculinity, moderated by Collin Kelley (Midnight in a Perfect World). Access this event and others by reserving a free or pay-what you can pass. Festival passes can be acquired here.

Lit Live Online Reading
Sunday, November 1, 7:30pm EST
Six writers, derek beaulieu (A, A Novel), Sachiko Murakami (Render), Angela Rawlings (Sound of Mull), Rasiqra Revulva (Cephalography 2.0), and Stuart Ross (Jenny in a Coma) will read their work via Zoom. Free.