Elizabeth Hazen Reads for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial (in-person)

Edgar Allan Poe famously proclaimed the “death of a beautiful woman” the most poetical subject in the world. The prolonged suffering of his beautiful, dying wife, Virginia Poe (1822 – 1847,) almost certainly inspired this belief. Muse, poetess, child bride, daughter of Baltimore, Virginia Poe remains one of the most enigmatic and controversial figures in the famed author’s history.

Commemorating the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe’s beloved wife, the Virginia Poe Bicentennial will include monthly virtual and in-person programs including grave-side chats, hidden history, discussion series, and exhibits.

Workshop with Saida Agostini: “Archiving Erasure: Writing Family Myths, Fables, And Futures” (in-person)

From Poetry Barn:

“When I say/I love my family/what I mean/is I worship/the battle,” Saida Agostini writes early in her stunning debut poetry collection let the dead in. What does it mean to be fierce in our own historical presence? To demand our right to exist in the family stories that shape our very reality?

This poetry workshop is an invitation to writers to explore the family stories that have not yet been told, and the futures waiting to be claimed. Through generative exercises, storytelling, and somatic practices, writers will walk away with new drafts of the family stories still waiting to be told.

Includes light lunch and a reserved seat at 7:30 PM reading & open mic

Reuben Jackson to read at PoemTown St. Johnsbury (in-person + virtual)

“Join us for a Poem Town St. Johnsbury Celebration featuring the Myra Flynn Band and special guest Reuben Jackson.From March 17 to April 17 a selection of words related to this year’s PoemTown St. Johnsbury theme, Up from the Roots, will be posted on a window at 67 Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury and on posters available in several downtown locations. Participants are invited to use some of the posted words to build phrases or lines of poetry, which they can then submit toward the creation of a community poem.

The final poem, made of community contributions, will be arranged by poet, jazz scholar, teacher, and former VPR host Reuben Jackson, who will then read the composition at a music and poetry event at Catamount ArtPort on Saturday, April 30th featuring the Myra Flynn Band.”

Katherine E. Young and Richard Peabody Read for Arlington Writers in Solidarity with Ukraine (in-person)

Join a large and diverse group of DC-area poets, including ASP’s own Katherine E. Young and Richard Peabody, as they read their work in solidarity with the people of Ukraine affected by the recent Russian invasion. This is an in-person event.

RSVP on facebook, if you like. Though it is not required to attend.

This is a fundraising event.

2022 Washington Writers Conference feat. Rose Solari (live)

The 2022 Washington Writers Conference is thrilled to welcome you back in person on May 13-14! In addition to our one-on-one agent-pitch sessions, we’ll have an exciting array of panels covering everything from the business of writing to specialized craft workshops.

Rose Solari: “The Great Unknown: Documenting the World through Poetry” (panel) (in-person)

Join Rose Solari at the Washington Writers Conference for her panel entitled The Great Unknown: Documenting the World through Poetry

“When you don’t know what to say anymore, try poetry.” Join renowned poets Teri Ellen Cross Davis, 2022 Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist State Awardee and author of Haint (Gival Press, 2016), winner of the 2017 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry, and poetry coordinator for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.; Rose Solari, author of three full-length collections of poetry (The Last Girl, Orpheus in the Park, and Difficult Weather) and recipient of the Academy of American Poets’ University Prize; Dr. Donald Cohen, author of the three-volume collection Memory Man One, Memory Man Two and Memory Man Three; and Emily Holland, noted poet and editor of Poet Lore and editor-in-chief of FOLIO, as they discuss poetry as a means of bearing witness to our world.

VENUE: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

ROOM: Glen Echo

Rose Solari: To Agent or Not to Agent? (panel) (in-person)

Join Rose Solari at the Washington Writers Conference for her panel entitled To Agent or Not to Agent?

VENUE: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

ROOM: Glen Echo

Elizabeth Hazen: Girls Like Us, Ft Rose Solari & Jessica Anya Blau (in-person)

From The Ivy:

The Ivy is thrilled to welcome poet Elizabeth Hazen for a reading from her latest collection, Girls Like Us! Liz will be joined by Rose Solari, the poet and publisher who published Girls Like Us, and Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane. This event will also be to celebrate the paperback release of Mary Jane, which came out on April 5th. This event will take place outdoors, in person on The Ivy’s back patio, and will be moderated by local author, Kathy Flann.

Saida Agostini at Red Emma’s (in-person)

Saida Agostini presents her debut collection of poetry, let the dead in, at Red Emma’s bookstore in Baltimore.

Audacious, sensual, and grieving, this work explores how Black women harness the fantastic to craft their own road to freedom. A journey across Guyana, London, and the United States, it is a meditation on black womanhood, queerness, the legacy of colonization, and pleasure. These poems craft a creation story fat with love, queerness, mermaids, and blackness.

Saida Agostini at Reader’s Block for Poets on PTSD (in-person)

Saida Agostini and a panel of fellow poets will read poems addressing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Light refreshments will be served.