Today's Featured Books— Events

Free online: Writers' Room of Boston - Readings from the Room. Join us for an evening of readings and discussion, hosted by Spencer Storey Johnson and featuring the work of Anu Kandikuppa and Jake Hargrove. Tuesday, April 29, 7 PM EDT. 

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Free online - Unwritten: A Life Writing Workshop, a guided journey to uncover and reflect on the stories that shape your life. Sunday, April 27, 12:00 - 1:30 PM CDT. 

"Experience is the teacher of all things." ~Julius Caesar

Free online: Poetry and the Creative Mind. Presented by the Academy of American Poets, this celebratory broadcast features actors, artists, and leaders from across the arts and honors poetry's important place in our society and its impact on the lives of readers. Thursday, April 24, 7:30 PM ET. 

"I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything." ~Steven Wright

Free online: Literary Editions from the University of Alberta Press, an online listening party featuring readings from UAlberta Press’ newest poetry collections: This Sweet Rupture by Omar Ramadan, When Whales Went Back to the Water by Lisa Baird, and Python Love by Shannon Arntfield. Wednesday, April 23, 6:00 - 7:30 PM CDT. 

"Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash." ~Leonard Cohen

Free online: Earth Day Film Festival, an online documentary film festival that invites you to explore both the wonders and the challenges facing our natural world. Presented by Earth Day Orcas and the San Juan Islands Makers Guild, in collaboration with the Friday Harbor Film Festival. April 19 - 28. 

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” ~Rachel Carson

Free online: WEHO Reads. Presented by the West Hollywood Arts Council in honor of National Poetry Month, join for readings and conversations with Richard Blanco, the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet and a National Humanities Medal recipient, and Kim Dower, former City Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. Wednesday, April 6, 6:30 PM PDT. 

"Poetry is the deification of reality." ~Edith Sitwell

Free online: Black Mountain Institute Reading & Conversation with Cherry Lou Sy, author of Love Can’t Feed You. Wednesday, April 16, 3 PM EDT, 12 PM PDT. 

“There are as many forms of love as there are moments in time.” ~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

Free online: GetLit! Festival. The GetLit! Festival is Washington State’s longest-running annual literary festival, featuring a diverse lineup of highly sought-after authors and local literary talent. The Festival concludes this Sunday with a full day of online events! Sunday, April 13, 9 AM to 6:30 PM PDT. 

"She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live." ~Annie Dillard

Free online: Academy of American Poets Event featuring Distinguished Poet in Residence Ilya Kaminsky, a finalist for the National Book Award and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Thursday, April 10, 5:30 - 6:30 PM EDT.

“All that is musical in us is memory.” ~Ilya Kaminsky

Free online: Authors Discuss Addictions/Compulsions. Pen Parentis Literary Salons feature short readings by writes who are also parents, followed by moderated, audience-driven chat surrounded a curated theme. Tuesday, April 8, 6-7 PM CDT. 

"It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ~T.S. Eliot

April is National Poetry Month, and the Poetry Near You page of Poets.org has a great calendar of poetry readings, workshops, festivals, conferences, and more. Search by zip code to find an in-person event near you or select an online event that you can join from the comfort of your own home.

"There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either." ~Robert Graves

Free online: Seabird Hallelujah: A Conversation in Poetry. Poets Julia Fehrenbacher and Maya Stein meet to read their work. Interspersed with the readings will be an informal conversation in response to the poems. Thursday, April 3, 7:00 - 8:30 PM EDT. 

"Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn." ~Thomas Gray

Free online: Get the Word Out Fiction Reading. Join Poets & Writers for a celebratory reading by the current fiction cohort of Get the Word Out, a publicity incubator for early-career authors. Wednesday, April 2, 6 PM CDT. 

“I write to discover what I know.” ~Flannery O’Connor

Free online: What's New in Historical Fiction - Special Audiobook Edition. Join host Colin Mustful, founder of History Through Fiction, for a panel series featuring historical novelists and their audiobook narrators: Jillian Forsberg with Caroline Hewitt for The Rhino Keeper; Elizabeth R. Andersen with Ella Lynch for Sleight of Hand, and Elizabeth Becker with Bailey Carr for The Moonlight Healers. Monday, March 31, 1 PM CDT. 

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” ~Charles Dickens

Free online: Mississauga Library’s Author Talk Series. Join Nicola Ross, a National Magazine Award–winning journalist, who will be discussing 40 Days & 40 Hikes, a chronicle of her hike of the Bruce Trail, Canada's longest marked trail (more than 900 kilometers!). Perfect for hikers, non-hikers, and anyone who loves an adventure. Wednesday, March 26, 6-7 PM CDT. 

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” ~John Muir

Free online: Writers' Room of Boston - Readings from the Room. Join virtually for an evening at the Writers' Room of Boston, hosted by Spencer Storey Johnson and featuring the work of Eleanor Kedney and Matt Gillick. Tuesday, March 25, 7 PM EDT. 

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” ~Oscar Wilde

Free online: Starburst Speculative Poetry Reading for Women’s History Month, featuring Vivian Faith Prescott, born and raised on the island of Kaachx̱ana.áakʼw, Wrangell, Alaska, in the Alexander Archipelago. Vivian is author of 13 books, including poetry, short stories, and a foodoir. Sunday, March 23, 7-8 PM ET.

“Spring is made of solid, fourteen-karat gratitude." ~Barbara Kingsolver

Free online: Strong Women, Strange Worlds. Celebrate the first day of spring with author readings of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. Join to hear six authors do quick (8-minute) reads of their work. Thursday, March 20, 6-7 PM CDT. 

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ~Leo Tolstoy

Free online: NYPL Open Book Hour. Join staff from two branches of the New York Public Library to talk about what books you've been reading and to hear new recommendations and thoughts about good reading. Tuesday, March 18, 4-5 PM ET. 

“A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.” ~Shelby Foote

Free online: What's New in Historical Fiction. Join this regular panel series featuring historical novelists with new and upcoming titles. Moderated by Colin Mustful, founder of History Through Fiction, this special panel includes J. E. Weiner, author of The Wretched and Undone; Penny Haw, author of Follow Me to Africa; Fiona Davis, author of The Stolen Queen; and Susan Meissner, author of A Map to Paradise. Sunday, March 16, 1-2 PM CDT.

“History is a vast early warning system.” ~Norman Cousins, American journalist (1915-1990)

Free online: Virtual Tour of The Mark Twain House & Museum. Mark Twain's mansion in Hartford, Connecticut, is opulent and educational. Each room features historical facts and photos that you can see via your virtual tour. You can also view recordings of past literary events held at the mansion. 

"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog." ~Mark Twain

Free online: Cocktails & Conversation. Join authors Jacqueline Faber, Tess Gerritsen, Andrew Ludington, and Gigi Pandian for Cocktails & Conversation, sponsored by The Back Room. Sunday, March 9, 7 PM ET.

“Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne." ~Dorothy Parker

Free online: First Friday Book Talk & Reading. Presented by Larksong Writers Place, join this Friday for a Book Talk & Reading with Cassie Premo Steele, author of Beaver Girl, a novel set against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and climate-collapsed world. Friday, March 7, 12 PM CT. 

"I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is?" ~Vincent van Gogh

Free online: Hill Writers Reading Series. Join for a cozy evening of storytelling and poetry with authors Willie Edward Taylor Carver and Amy Le Ann Richardson. Presented by Hill Writers: A Southern Writers' Collective. Saturday, March 1, 6-8 PM EST.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ~William Wordsworth

Free online: An Evening of Poetry from the Hudson Valley Writers Center, featuring new poetry from Tiana Clark, Shanta Lee, Ruben Quesada, Ruth Ellen Kocher, and Matthew Johnson. Wednesday, February 26, 7 PM ET. 

"Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history." ~Plato