NYC offers ample opportunities for poets and writers to mix, mingle, and make the most of their art. Workshops, readings, and open mics are a great way to meet fellow poets, discover new work, and get inspired to perhaps share your own. So if you live in the NYC area, don’t be shy—we’ve got 8 poetry events in New York City for you to attend this March.
For Every Real Word Spoken: A night of poetry and celebration
Sunday, March 1; doors open at 4:30 p.m, show begins at 5 p.m.
The Bell House
149 7th Street
(Between 2nd and 3rd Ave)
Brooklyn, NY, 11215
$35 seated / $22 standing room only
Open to all ages, this one-night-only event is hosted by Urban Word NYC. All proceeds will support Urban Word NYC’s teen poetry slam and programming, which currently reaches 25,000 teenagers across New York City. The evening will feature performances from award-winning poets like Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye, Mahogany L. Browne, and more, plus musical performances and artist meet-and-greets.
Poetry Writing Workshop
Monday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Bronx Library Center
310 East Kingsbridge Road
Bronx, NY, 10458
Hosted by New New York Public Libraries, this workshop will focus on writing and developing poetry as well as receiving/providing peer feedback. Each session focuses on a particular genre, and helps participants identify poets and poems that represent that genre. Those who love to analyze form and structure and explore different interpretations of a poem will enjoy this course.
Literature Out Loud: Experimental Poetry – Modernism
Thursday, March 5 at 1:00 p.m.
Mid-Madhattan Library at 42nd Street, Room 67B
476 Fifth Avenue (42nd Street Entrance)
New York, NY, 10018
At each session of Literature Out Loud, group members read aloud and discuss passages of classic and contemporary poetry from across the world. This month, LOL will explore the artistic twists and turns of 20th-century experimental poetry. Join to read and discuss poetry from the Modernist literary movement —from T.S. Eliot to Gertrude Stein. Explore poets who captured the literary and social changes of their era. All literary enthusiasts are welcome!
NYC Voices: A Poetry, Prose & Spoken Word Experience
Friday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Hell Phone
247 Varet Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
$15 per person ($10 cover + $5 drink, non-alcoholic options available)
Harkening to the days of secret speakeasies, this age-18-and-up event is located at Hell Phone, in the back of Ange Noir Cafe. The event will feature artists such as Kate Koerlich, Carissa Pignatelli, James Reed, and more. There will be a limited open mic as well—sign up to share five minutes of poetry, prose, or spoken word.
Jane Hirshfield and Patricia Smith
Monday, March 9 at 8:00 p.m.
Buttenweiser Hall
92nd Street Y (between 91st & 92nd street)
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10128
$20 per person
Sit in on this talk and live reading with three of the most highly-esteemed female poets of our time: Jane Hirshfield and Patricia Smith, hosted by Alicia Ostriker. Both Hirshfield and Smith will discuss their new collections. Hirshfield’s latest book of poetry, Ledger, has become quickly renowned as poignant, political, topical, and masterful. Smith’s Incendiary Art (a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry finalist) fearlessly explores history, tragedy, and blackness in America.
Poetry Reading Circle: Women’s History Month
Saturday, March 15 at 9:30 a.m.
2 West 64th Street
New York, NY 10023
Room 508
Every third Sunday of the month, the New York Society for Ethical Culture hosts a poetry reading circle. In honor of women’s history month, March’s reading circle will place a focus on female poets. Participants are invited to bring poems, read aloud, and share why they like them.
Monday Night Poetry: Kimiko Hahn + Donna Masini
Sunday, March 16 at 7 p.m.
KGB Bar | Red Room
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Catch live readings from award-winning poets Kimiko Hahn and Donna Masini at this intimate, East Village bar. With contemporary and experimental work ranging a wide array of topics, Hahn is the author of nine books of poetry and the winner of the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, the American Book Award, and the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. Masini, whose work falls in step somewhere between Whitman and Rukeyser, is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and more.
PoetNY Open Mic
Sunday, March 22 at 8:00 p.m.
Bowery Poetry
308 Bowery,
New York, NY, 10012
Tickets are $10 online / $15 at the door
Ready to join one of the largest open mics in the NYC-area? We suggest getting your tickets in advance and showing up early if you want to share (or even just find a chair). Signups are first-come, first-served and begin at 8 p.m. There are twenty (20) three-minute time slots. If you don’t make the list on your first visit, don’t fret. This open mic takes place every Sunday—same time, same place.
