Copper Canyon Press

Hugo House presents: From Detail to Discovery with Ellen Bass
2020-07-11 10:00 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | VA
From Hugo House and Ellen Bass:
“Tolstoy said, ‘Art is transferring feeling from one heart to another. And E.L. Doctorow said, ‘Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.’ But how do we go about this work of transferring feeling? We create a physical and emotional impact through vivid detail, precise description, metaphor, and image. By describing what we see, we understand more, we feel more. And that process of seeing, understanding, feeling, and epiphany then takes place in the reader as well. In this workshop we’ll look at exemplary poems and learn (and try out) practical strategies for including these elements in our own writing.”
Includes a writing break from 11:30 am–2 pm.

Living Room Craft Talk with Ellen Bass I
2020-07-10 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
From Ellen Bass:
“If you want to learn more about the strategies that you can employ to write poems that are more vivid, arresting, meaningful and complex, please join Ellen Bass for this craft talk series on Fridays: July 10, 17, 24, 31, August 7 & 14 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET.
Ellen will be presenting practical teachings that you’ll be able to put to use at whatever stage of development you’re at—whether you’re just beginning or are an experienced and published poet. Though these talks are focused on poetry, prose writers are welcome too. If you write memoir or fiction, you will find that this precise attention to language will enrich your work as well.
This week’s topic will be The Art of Metaphor: What Is It Like?
Each talk will be an hour to hour and a half long and will include a discussion of exemplary poems that illustrate these aspects of the craft, as well as practical guidance for how you might bring these elements into your own poems. The talk will be followed by a half an hour for questions.”
Register here: https://www.ellenbass.com/events/living-room-craft-talks/

Debut Revue presents Leila Chatti, George Abraham, Jessica Q. Stark, and Lucia LoTempio
2020-07-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Debut Revue is a reading series which features and celebrates debut poets of 2020 and beyond whose launches have been disrupted due to the pandemic. On July 8, Debut Revue presents a reading with Leila Chatti, George Abraham, Jessica Q. Stark, and Lucia LoTempio.
Watch live on Debut Revue’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBFe1c40CxA

Further Notice presents Philip Metres and Bruce Snider
2020-06-30 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver)
From the organizers:
“Friends! Please join us for the fourteenth reading in the Further Notice Virtual Reading Series, featuring Bruce Snider and Philip Metres. Imagine listening to all this magic from the comfort of your bed or couch or wherever suits you! 8PM CST/ 9PM EST
Further Notice aims to promote and feature poets with recent or soon-to-be released titles whose tours and release events were affected by recent events. In a time of social distancing, let’s get close on Zoom and enjoy some poems.”
Join here:
https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/96789068419?pwd=[REDACTED]

For the Future of Poetry: A Virtual Benefit featuring Ellen Bass, Jericho Brown, and Arthur Sze
2020-06-30 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join Copper Canyon Press for a virtual benefit reading featuring Lambda Literary Award winner Ellen Bass, National Book Award winner Arthur Sze, and Pulitzer Prize winner Jericho Brown, with a conversation moderated by Editor-in-Chief Michael Wiegers.
Learn more about our summer fund drive and how you can help safeguard a future for poetry and independent publishing: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/for-the-future-of-poetry/
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5115926008199/WN_znzSc_8lRf2UNwJLx5vjyg

LOGOS presents Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Camille Dungy
2020-06-29 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
From the organizer:
A very special digital LOGOS Gathering, co-sponsored by EcoTheo Review and Blue Flower Arts featuring Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Camille Dungy.
LOGOS Gatherings are ‘liturgically-inflected’ reading events, which engage audience participation.
RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/logos-presents-camille-dungy-aimee-nezhukumatathil-tickets-108039655518
A confirmation email will be sent with ZOOM link and PW to access.
You can also tune-in and watch the event on the LOGOS page via Facebook (@logospoetrycollective).
Digital book-sales made possible by Bookwoman, Austin’s premiere feminist bookstore, and Bookshop.

Bookshop.org presents Ellen Bass and Toi Derricotte
2020-06-29 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
From the organizer:
Please join us for a poetry reading with Toi Derricotte and Ellen Bass. Toi and Ellen are dear friends and have shared their poetry for many years. They are now coming together for this special reading of work from their new books. Of Toi Derricotte’s most recent book, “I”:New and Selected Poems, Terrance Hayes writes: “What song do you sing when you sing ‘so low we can’t hear you?’ Toi Derricotte makes poetry of that song. It rises from ‘the houses where you hear the least squealing,’ it is ‘quieter than blossoms & near invisible.’ It is filled with witness and love for our literal and literary families. The tough and tender intimacies of human bonds bind these marvelous new and selected poems.” Of Ellen Bass’ new book, Indigo, Mark Doty writes: “’You may have to break/ your heart,’ writes Ellen Bass, ‘but it isn’t nothing/ to know even one moment alive.’ That complex tenant of faith underlies every poem in this superb book, an inquiry into what it is to be present in the physical world, in time, a body in the world of bodies. Bass’s poems are surprising, tender, hungry and wide awake, fearless in their attention to every nuance of feeling. I love this book wholeheartedly.”
Register here: https://mailchi.mp/ellenbass/toiderricotte

Patricia Smith’s Birthday Poetry Marathon featuring Jericho Brown, Rachel McKibbens, Ellen Bass, and more
2020-06-26 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York)
Bowery Poetry presents two nights of online poetry readings in celebration of poet Patricia Smith’s birthday, featuring readings from Jericho Brown, Rachel McKibbens, Ellen Bass, Kwame Dawes, Cyrus Cassells, Nicole Sealey, Saeed Jones, Fatimah Asghar, and many more.
Event will be livestreamed here: https://www.facebook.com/bowerypoetryclub

Saad éí Na'iiłná with Sareya Taylor, Rowie Shebala, & Sherwin Bitsui
2020-06-26 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Chicago)
From the organizers:
“The Saad éí Na’iiłná COVID-19 Relief Fundraiser is a gathering of Diné writers and poets to support Navajo and White Mountain Apace communities impacted by COVID-19. Saad éí Na’iiłná translates loosely into “language moves us” and we are moved by the heroism and leadership of our communities that are braving this pandemic.
The event will be divided four different reading blocks spread over two days. The reading will highlight the Navajo & Hopi Families Relief Fund and the White Mountain Apache COVID-19 Relief Fund. Once reserved, participants will be asked to donate to one or both of the organizations. For more information, contact info@saadbeehozho.org.”
The event on July 26 features Sareya Taylor, Rowie Shebala, and Sherwin Bitsui.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saad-ei-naiina-with-sareya-taylor-rowie-shebala-sherwin-bitsui-tickets-110213250800

Patricia Smith's Birthday Poetry Marathon featuring Jericho Brown, Rachel McKibbens, Ellen Bass, and more
2020-06-25 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York)

City Lights Live with John Freeman and D.A. Powell
2020-06-25 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
City Lights Live presents a virtual reading and book celebration for John Freeman‘s The Park. Freeman is joined by renowned Bay Area poet D.A. Powell.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/john-freeman-with-da-powell-tickets-106505528904

LOGOS presents Jericho Brown and Jorie Graham
2020-06-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
From the organizer:
A very special digital LOGOS Gathering, co-sponsored by EcoTheo Review and Blue Flower Arts featuring Jericho Brown and Jorie Graham.
LOGOS Gatherings are ‘liturgically-inflected’ reading events, which engage audience participation.
RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/logos-presents-jericho-brown-jorie-graham-tickets-108039503062
A confirmation email will be sent with Zoom link and password.
You can also tune-in and watch the event live on the LOGOS page via Facebook (@logospoetrycollective).
Digital book-sales made possible by Bookwoman, Austin’s premiere feminist bookstore, and Bookshop.

White Whale Bookstore presents Leila Chatti, Marlin M. Jenkins, Steffan Triplett, and J. Bailey Hutchinson
2020-06-10 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
White Whale Bookstore presents a virtual reading with Leila Chatti, Marlin M. Jenkins, Steffan Triplett, and J. Bailey Hutchinson.
This event will be hosted on Zoom. You’ll receive the link to the Zoom meeting the day of the event via email. Free registration/ticket sales will end at 6:30pm EDT on 6/10. Please email events@whitewhalebookstore.com if you miss this cut-off and need a ticket.
Get tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-poetry-reading-jenkins-chatti-triplett-hutchinson-tickets-106834057542

Further Notice Virtual Reading Series: Victoria Chang and Rick Barot
2020-06-09 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver)
The Further Notice Virtual Reading Series presents an online reading Victoria Chang and Rick Barot. From the organizers:
“Please join us for the eleventh reading in the Further Notice Virtual Reading Series, featuring Victoria Chang and Rick Barot. Imagine listening to all this magic from the comfort of your bed or couch or wherever suits you! 8PM CST/ 9PM EST.
Further Notice aims to promote and feature poets with recent or soon-to-be released titles whose tours and release events were affected by recent events. In a time of social distancing, let’s get close on Zoom and enjoy some poems.
JOIN HERE:
https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/93880671463?pwd=[REDACTED]
WE WILL LOCK THE ROOM ONCE THE READING STARTS, ALTHOUGH YOU CAN FACEBOOK MESSAGE US TO BE LET IN.

Windows/Shababeek: A Bilingual Virtual Reading featuring Philip Metres
2020-06-06 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
The Arab American History Museum presents a Sukoon bilingual live reading around the theme of Windows/Shababeek, curated and hosted by Sukoon founding editor Rewa Zeinati, and featuring a fabulous lineup of Arab writers and poets, including: Zeyn Joukhadar, Zeina Hashem Beck, Philip Metres, George Abraham, Sahar Mustafa, Zeina Azzam (Arabic) and Farah Chamma (Arabic).
AAHM says: “We’ve spent the last several weeks observing life go back and forth to stillness, isolation, fear or healing, all through the windows of our homes (if we are privileged enough to have them). We’ve pondered other people’s lives existing behind their own windows. What joy or confusion or horror was multiplied? Join us for this bilingual poetry and fiction virtual live reading in collaboration with Sukoon, exploring—in the most broad or intimate sense—the various and infinite ways we interpret the barriers, filters or open fields we call “windows” and how these inform the light and shadows we allow or dissipate.”
This virtual reading will be streamed live on AANM’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/919406768501679/

The Beautiful Witness We Bear: Writer to Writer featuring Jericho Brown and Nikki Finney
2020-06-05 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
The Bay Area Book Festival presents Jericho Brown and Nikki Finney in conversation, moderated by Ismail Muhammad, reviews editor for The Believer and board member at the National Book Critics Circle.
Register to view the livestream here: https://baybookfest.secure.force.com/ticket/#sections_a0F3m00000ycHwPEAU
From the event website:
“In our Writer to Writer series, two writers who are fans of each other’s work come together for a conversation. This is one you’ll want to revisit again and again. National Book Award winner Nikky Finney, whose latest poetry collection is 2020’s Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry, aims for a sweet spot in her poems, an intersection “where the beautifully said thing meets the really difficult to say thing.” It’s a poetic crossroads that Jericho Brown, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for The Tradition, can attest to: “Nikky Finney,” Jericho has written, “manipulates into music the words readers use to see, hear, and understand a soul’s history.” Jericho’s poems occupy a similar place between transcendence and unflinching, grounded witness. As Claudia Rankine has said, “To read Jericho Brown’s poems is to encounter devastating genius.”
Both Jericho and Nikky are known for their powerfully resonant presence as well as the brilliance of their work. Nikky’s 2011 National Book Award acceptance speech, which started with the sentence “We begin with history: the slave codes of South Carolina, 1739,” moved viewers to tears and was called “the best acceptance speech for anything that I’ve ever heard in my life” by host John Lithgow. Jericho’s “irreverent, magnetic presence is beloved in the worlds of poetry and education” (Krista Tippet, OnBeing). Come witness a sure-to-be-unforgettable conversation between two of poetry’s most profound and affecting voices, witnesses, and visionaries.”

Lambda Literary presents The Quarantine Reading Series, featuring Alison C. Rollins
2020-05-29 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Lambda Literary’s Quarantine Reading Series is “a virtual poetry experience running May 28th and 29th where emerging and established poets share their work and fellowship, and where your ticket purchase or donation supports LGBTQ and BIPOC writers during the global crisis.
This month, twenty phenomenal poets including Alison C. Rollins, Julian Randall, Benjamin Garcia, Kai Davis, and more are reading alongside our two featured poets: National Book Award winner Justin Philip Reed and acclaimed poet and scholar Phillip B. Williams.”
Tickets to the the Quarantine Reading Series are sliding scale beginning at $5.00 Suggested donation is $15.00. All proceeds go to the poets reading at the events.
Purchase tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thequarantinereadingseries-feat-phillip-b-williams-justin-phillip-reed-tickets-105646122396

SOMOS presents Ellen Bass and Jericho Brown
2020-05-27 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Denver)
SOMOS presents an online reading with Ellen Bass and Jericho Brown, free and open to the public.
Access information here: https://somostaos.org/calendar/#event=38764263

The Racket Weekly: THE LONG GONE with Keith S. Wilson
2020-05-21 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
This week, The Racket celebrates Chicago-based poet Keith S. Wilson, author of Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love.
The event’s theme—THE LONG GONE—”digs into the idea of what we long for in the past and in the future. The people, the places, the experiences—all of those we’ve left behind.”
Doors at 7. Show at 7:15.
Find the access link here (beginning May 20): https://www.facebook.com/events/308632716790102/

A Reading Series: Reading #1 featuring Dana Levin, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Michael Klein, and Carl Phillips
2020-05-20 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
This digital poetry reading series begins with a virtual reading featuring Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Michael Klein (Curator), Dana Levin, and Carl Phillips.
Registration required. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-poetry-reading-series-1-tickets-105000643752

Columbia University presents HERD: A Reading feat. Bibbins, Fischer, Gilbert, Lasky, McCrae, & Paredez
2020-05-20 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Columbia University presents an online reading featuring Mark Bibbins, BK Fischer, Alan Gilbert, Dorthea Lasky, Shane McCrae, and Deborah Paredez.
Register here: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJArduyppjMjE9IrXntPqBadkosGzg1EC4Bk

Our Homes, Our Bodies, Our Imaginations: How Place Shapes Identity with Philip Metres, Lisa Olstein, and
2020-05-19 18:00 (America/Chicago)
Virtual Views and Brews presents Our Homes, Our Bodies, Our Imaginations: how place shapes identity. Join KUT’s Rebecca McInroy in conversation with poet Philip Metres, poet and memoirist Lisa Olstein, and anthropologist Meena Khandelwal, to talk about everything from how we experience pain collectively, to the fragmented memories that shape our imaginary, to the gendered aspects of space and time.
Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/our-homes-our-bodies-our/register

WNP Poetry through the Pandemic presents Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Ada Limón, Andrea Gibson, and Nickole Brown
2020-05-18 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Kollective Coffee+Tea’s long-standing Wednesday Night Poetry event continues its poetry open mic with a reading featuring poets Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Ada Limón, Andrea Gibson, and Nickole Brown.
The reading will stream live on WNP’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WednesdayNightPoetry/

Virtual Event: A Poetry Reading with Ellen Bass and Tess Taylor
2020-05-18 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
A virtual reading with Ellen Bass and Tess Taylor, hosted by Brookline Booksmith, who says “Grab a drink and get ready for some poems. Settle in for some breath music. Join Ellen Bass and Tess Taylor to celebrate their new collections. Tess’s book Rift Zone offers poems for an apocalyptic California– the precarious places, the fault lines in whose midst we (all over America) already live. Her poems are also replete with valley girls, strip malls, ancient trees, new primates, upthrust soils. Ellen’s new book Indigo plumbs the miraculous from the stuff of life–the grit of oysters, taking an old dog out to pee in the night, shopping at Ross. Both of them will read new poems, and talk about how poetry lets us share breath in a way that is safe–and reminds us that our lives are fundamentally linked.”
RSVP here: https://mailchi.mp/ellenbass/tesstaylor

SPEAK. EASY. // A Virtual Reading Series presents John Freeman, Mary-Kim Arnold, and Jenny Zhang
2020-05-16 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Twenty Stories LA presents SPEAK. EASY.—a virtual reading series with your favorite authors. On May 16, SPEAK. EASY. welcomes John Freeman, Mary-Kim Arnold, and Jenny Zhang to read from their latest works, followed by a conversation and audience Q&A, hosted by Emory and Alexa, owners of Twenty Stories. The event is free.
Join here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/speak–easy—a-virtual

A Virtual Reading with James Richardson, Nancy Reddy, and Emily Van Duyne
2020-05-15 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Stockton University presents a virtual reading with James Richardson, Nancy Reddy, Emily Van Duyne, livestreamed using Zoom. You don’t need to create a Zoom account in order to “attend,” but you do need access to a computer, smart phone or other telephone.
You can tune in from your computer or smart phone by clicking this link: https://stockton.zoom.us/j/99598899950.
You can also call in to listen from a landline or cell phone. Dial 929-436-2866 and enter meeting ID: 995 9889 9950

HRC Fireside Chat With Pulitzer-Prize Winning Poet Jericho Brown
2020-05-13 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Pulitzer Prize-winner Jericho Brown joins Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David to discuss the resilience of the Black LGBTQ community and celebrate the power and importance of poetry as a vehicle for calling out injustice.
Watch here: https://www.hrc.org/resources/fireside-chat-with-pulitzer-prize-winning-poet-jericho-brown

A Virtual Reading with Michael McGriff and Robert Walicki
2020-05-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
White Whale Bookstore hosts an online evening of poetry with Michael McGriff and Robert Walicki. White Whale says “head to our Bookshop site’s list titled ‘Recent and Upcoming Events (Pre-order!)’ to order one of Bob’s books and several of Michael’s. You can also check out other curated lists and picks on our main site page, or use the search bar in the upper center-right to look for any book. (Using the book’s ISBN usually works best.)”
This event will be hosted on Zoom. You’ll receive the link to the Zoom meeting the day of the event via email.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-poetry-reading-robert-walicki-michael-mcgriff-tickets-103746865668
Free registration/ticket sales will end at 6:30pm EDT on 5/8. Please email events@whitewhalebookstore.com if you miss this cut-off and need a ticket.

Live with Victoria Chang and Monica Sok
2020-05-07 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
A reading with Victoria Chang and Monica Sok will be streamed live online as part of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore’s Virtual Event Series.
Register to attend here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/victoria-chang-and-monica-sok/register

Greenlight Bookstore presents John Freeman and Julia Alvarez
2020-05-05 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Acclaimed authors and friends John Freeman and Julia Alvarez present their new books, both of which engages with questions of how we decide who to care for, which bodies matter, how we occupy space with strangers… and whose presences we don’t see. - Freeman’s poetry collection The Park is a series of meditations inspired by The Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, spanning four seasons, which asks the reader to consider what role exclusion plays, and what role tenderness, in our sense of public space. Alvarez’s novel Afterlife—her first in almost fifteen years—tells the story of an immigrant writer confronted by personal and political crises, and asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost? Freeman and Alvarez read and discuss their work and engage with audience questions at this virtual event.
Register here: https://www.greenlightbookstore.com/event/john-freeman-julia-alvarez
