Your Week in Virtual Book Events, Oct. 5th-11th

Arts Activism and Curatorial Practices
Monday, October 5, 6pm EDT
Join Kimberly Drew (This Is What I Know About Art) in conversation on art for societal change with photographer, artist, author, and curator Deborah Willis. Moderated by Naomi Extra for the Brooklyn Book Festival. Free, via Crowdcast.

Failed Promise: Talking About My Generation
Monday, October 5, 6pm EDT
Moderated by Anderson Tepper, Daniel Galera (Twenty After Midnight) and Tsitsi Dangarembga (This Mournable Body) discuss how socio-political pioneers shift from youth to middle-age. Free, via Crowdcast.

Queering Black Masculinity: A Reading & Reflection
Monday, October 5, 7pm EDT
The launch of Jubi Arriola Headley’s debut poetry collection, original kink, will include additional readings from L. Lamar Wilson (Sacrilegion), Malcolm Tariq (Heed The Hollow), and Dustin Pearson (Millennial Roost) and reflections on how their work disrupts conventional notions of Black masculinity. Via Crowdcast for the Brooklyn Book Festival. Free.

Halfway There on Zoom
Monday, October 5, 8pm EDT
Halfway There: A Reading Series turns virtual for their 2020-21 season featuring readings from authors Megan Giddings (Lakewood), Raven Leilani (Luster), Amy Shearn (Unseen City), and Nancy Star (Rules for Moving). Register here. Free.

Writing the Natural World: John Farnsworth and Lyanda Haupt
Tuesday, October 6, 10pm EDT
Acclaimed writers of natural history, John Seibert Farnsworth (Nature Beyond Solitude) and Lyanda Lynn Haupt (Mozart’s Starling) will read from their most recent novels for Hugo House. Free. RSVP here.

One Page Wednesdays: R.L. Maizes
Wednesday, October 7, 9:30pm EDT
Presented by Literary Arts and hosted by Natalie Serber (Shout Her Lovely Name), One Page Wednesdays is an opportunity to share or listen to one page of work in progress from a host of talented writers. October’s featured reader is R.L. Maizes (Other People’s Pets). Sign up to share a single page of work or to listen to others’ works, here. Free, via Zoom.

Spotlight Poetry: Gabrielle Bates, Julia Guez, Luther Hughes, Dujie Tahat, and Tess Taylor
Wednesday, October 7, 10pm EDT
Hugo House hosts a poetry reading with visiting poets Julia Guez and Tess Taylor alongside cohosts of the Poet Salon Podcast: Gabrielle Bates, Luther Hughes, and Dujie Tahat. Free, on Zoom, and FB Live. Register here.

Close Readings in a Virtual Space: Tracie Morris
Thursday, October 8, 4pm EDT
Poet Tracie Morris (handholding: 5 kinds) will lead an intimate group read through of Angela Jackson’s poem “Miz Rosa Rides the Bus” to virtually explore poetry in a low-stakes and accessible manner. The event will also feature a brief reading by Morris. Presented by the Flow Chart Foundation with public funding in part by Poets & Writers. Free, via Zoom.

The Brother You Choose: Life, Politics, and Revolution, After the Panthers
Thursday, October 8, 5pm EDT
Ex-Black Panther Party members Eddie Conway and Paul Coates talk about their individual stories, their work, their politics, and their exceptional bond spanning 40 years as reflected in The Brother You Choose, a new book by Susie Day. This event is free with a sliding-scale donation encouraged. Proceeds will support Haymarket Books. Register here.

decolonizing the imagination: the black artist and the black gaze
Thursday, October 8, 6pm EDT
Zoom webinar hosted by the womanist reader and as they lay featuring poetry, art, and conversation on what it means to decolonize imaginations and creative practices for black artists. ASL interpretation provided. Register here. Free.

Like A Bird Book Launch: Fariha Roísín
Thursday, October 8, 7pm EDT
Librairie Drawn and Quarterly celebrates the release of Fariha Roísín’s debut novel, Like A Bird. Free. Register on Zoom.

Writers @ Grinnell: Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Thursday, October 8, 7pm EDT
Poets and Essayists Ross Gay (Be Holding) and Aimee Nezhukumatathil (World of Wonders) are hosted virtually by Prairie Lights bookstore for a free reading and discussion. Register here. Via Zoom.

Graywolf Literary Salon: Conversations from Home
Thursday, October 8, 7:30pm EDT
Featured Graywolf Press authors Natalie Diaz (Postcolonial Love Poem), Roy G. Guzman (Catrachos), Khaled Mattawa (Fugitive Atlas), and Kevin Young (Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts & Fake News) welcome you into their homes for a virtual conversation about place and imagination. Free, but donations welcome to support the press. Register here.

Poetry Day: Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows
Thursday, October 8, 9pm EDT
Poetry Foundation invites you to celebrate Poetry Day and the 31st anniversary of the Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship with a reading and Q&A from their 2020 Fellows: Isabella Borgeson, Luther Hughes, Cyrée Jarelle Johnson, Darius Simpson, and Khaty Xiong. The event will be live captioned via Zoom. Free.

It’s About Time: Writers’ Reading Series
Thursday, October 8, 9pm EDT
The Seattle Public Library presents a virtual edition of the It’s About Time Writers’ Reading Series featuring Jack Straw Writers: Rob Arnold, Ching-In Chen, Maisha Banks Manson, and Jose Treya-Maya. There will be a sign-up available before the event’s start for an open mic. Free via Zoom.

Sex and Vanity: Kevin Kwang with Amy Tan
Thursday, October 8, 10pm EDT
As part of the 2020 Litquake Festival, international bestselling author Kevin Kwan talks Sex and Vanity, his newest novel, with acclaimed author Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club). Free via Zoom and livecasted on FB Live at time of event. Donations welcome.

Books Noted Live: with Aditi Machado and Pamela Sneed
Friday, October 9, 7pm EDT
A reading presented by Academy of American Poet’s Books Noted series, with Aditi Machado (Emporium) and Pamela Sneed (Funeral Diva). Free with registration via Crowdcast.

Kundiman Prize Virtual Reading
Friday, October 9, 8pm EDT
To celebrate Adeeba Shahid Talukder’s Kundiman Poetry Prize-winning collection, Shahr-e-jaanaan: the City of the Beloved, the author will be reading her work alongside r. erica doyle and José Angel Araguz as part of the NYU reading series. Register for this free reading here.

Adam O. Davis: Index of Haunted Houses
Friday, October 9, 9:30pm EDT
Adam O. Davis sits down with author Diana Marie Delgado (Tracing the Horse) to discuss his newest book, Index of Haunted Houses. Hosted by Changing Hands Bookstore. Donation of $5 or more and/or purchase of book required to attend here.

Poetry Reading: Letters to a Young Brown Girl
Saturday, October 10, 6pm EDT
Eastwind Books of Berkeley hosts a celebration in time for Filipinx American History Month and the recent release of Letters to a Young Brown Girl by Barbara Jane Reyes. She will be joined by poets Monica Ong, Marianne Chan, and Kimberley Quiogue Andrews. RSVP for the Zoom link here. Free.

The  Speakeasy Project Presents: A Reading by Rosebud Ben-Oni
Saturday, October 10, 8pm EDT
Poet Rosebud Ben-Omi will be reading from her chapbook, 20 Atomic Sonnets, with writers Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Roberto Garcia, and Dorothy Chan. Optional donations are welcome, with all proceeds going to the featured artists. Free, via Zoom.