Category Archives: Free Poetry Events

Any free reading, open mic, or gathering of brilliant voices.

Kentucky Poetry Events on Friday, March 23, 2016

In Lexington, the Spalding MFA Program will be having a reading at Wild Fig Books Coffee with students and alums. The event will be hosted by Savannah Sipple and the readers include:

When: Friday, March 25, 2016 @ 7pm
Where: Wild Fig Books & Coffee
726 N. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 252-3052

Dave Harrity Our Father in the Year of the Wolf

In Louisville, Dave Harrity will be celebrating the release of his book, Our Father in the Year of the Wolf (WordFarm, 2016), at Highland Morning. The celebration is titled “Breakfast-for-Dinner Book Release Celebration!”. There will also be appearances by several readers, two of which will be very familiar to the Accents audience. Readers include:

When: Thursday, March 25, 2016 @ 6:30pm
Where: Highland Morning
1416 Bardstown Rd
Lo9uisville, KY 40204
(502) 365-3900

Teen Howl #51 Featuring Rozalyn Wingate

Teen Howl 51 featuring Rozalyn WingateTonight’s Teen Howl will feature a reading from Rozalyn Wingate. The reading will begin at 6pm at the Morris book shop in Lexington, Kentucky.

Open mic sign-ups begin at 5:45pm.

Facebook Event page

When: Thursday, March 3, 2016 @ 6pm
Where: the Morris book shop
882 E. High St.
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 276-0494

Nana Lampton Reads and Signs at Carmichael’s Bookstore

Nana Lampton will be reading from Wash the Dust from My Eyes (Accents Publishing) tomorrow, Thursday February 18th at the Carmichael’s Bookstore on Frankfort Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky.

In the above video from WHAS11 (Louisville’s ABC affiliate), Nana talks about the book, which is based on the World War I experiences of her grandfather, cavalryman Dinwiddie Lampton. The book is available here, as well as at Carmichael’s bookstore, and it combines her grandfather’s journal entries, photographs, and poetry from Nana herself.

Relevant links:

When: Thursday, February 18, 2016 @ 7pm
Where: Carmichael’s Bookstore
2720 Frankfort Ave.
Louisville, KY 40206
(502) 896-6950

KY Great Writers: Sharon Mauldin Reynolds, Tom C. Hunley, Paulette Livers

KY Great Writers Series February 9, 2016 with Tom C. Hunley, Paulette Livers, and Sharon Mauldin Reynolds

The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning is hosting one of its quarterly KY Great Writers Series. The featured readers will be Sharon Mauldin Reynolds, Accents Published Tom C. Hunley (of Scotch Tape World), and Paulette Livers.

An open mic will take place before the show, and sign-ups begin at 6:30pm. The open mic will also feature readings from students from the Carnegie Center’s Author Academy.

Check out the Facebook Event page for more info.

When: Tuesday, February 9, 2016 @ 7pm
Where: The Carnegie Center
251 W. Second Street
Lexington, KY 40507
(859) 254-4175

Teen Howl #50 featuring Danica Moon

Teen Howl 50 featuring Danica Moon

This month’s Teen Howl Poetry Series is tomorrow, Thursday February 4th at 6pm at the Morris book shop. It will feature the poetry of Danica Moon. Open mic sign-ups start at 5:45pm.

When: Thursday, February 4, 2016 @ 6pm
Where: the Morris book shop
882 E. High St.
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 276-0494

The monthly event features the best of Lexington’s young poets (including an open mic), and headlines an under 20-year-old featured poet as well as an accomplished guest in the poetry community. Founded in 2011 by Elizabeth Beck and Jay McCoy, the name is based off of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”, which the group read in pieces during their initial meetings.

Related Links:

Holler 92: DaMaris Hill, Nettie Farris, The Woodsheep

The 92nd Holler Poets Series will feature readings from DaMaris Hill and Nettie Farris accompanied by music from The Woodsheep.

DaMaris Hill is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. Her latest poetry collection, \ Vi-zə-bəl \ \ Teks-chərs \ (Visible Textures) (Mammoth Publications, 2015) are inspired by GPS technology and deal with the space in Kansas of a 2013 highway that was, in 1854, an Indian reservation.

Nettie Farris LexPoMo 2015Nettie Farris is the author of Communion (Accents Publishing, 2013) and—most recently—Fat Crayons (Finishing Line Press 2015). According to her 2015 LexPoMo bio, Nettie spends her spare time writing poems, practicing yoga, attending mass, praying the rosary, and, like Alice, going to tea parties.

The Woodsheep bandcamp album coverThe Woodsheep are Andrew Preston and Austin Tackett. Hailing from Morehead, Kentucky, The Woodsheep “aim to highlight the diversity, creativity, and storytelling that abound in their ever-evolving eastern Kentucky home by shoring up their own roots” (source).

Open mic sign-ups start at 6:45. Also, don’t forget the cold, hard cash for books, albums, and donations into the Holler Bucket.

Along with the announcement of the 92nd Holler Poets Series reading, Eric Scott Sutherland announced that the 100th show would be the last monthly installment of the series.

Facebook Event page.

When: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 @ 8pm
Where: Al’s Bar
601 N. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 309-2901

Nana Lampton Reading at Carnegie Center

Nana Lampton Reading on January 20th 2016 at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and LearningThis is the final reminder that Nana Lampton (author of Accents Published Wash the Dust from My Eyes and Bloom on a Split Board) will be reading tonight at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky at 6pm.

Nana Lampton is CEO and chair of Hardscuffle, Inc. and American Life and Accident Insurance Company of Kentucky, and she’s the founder of the Snowy Owl Foundation. She recently spoke at the Network for Entrepreneurial Women’s annual NEW Showcase last year. Nana is also the 2013 winner of the 2013 Kentucky Governor’s Awards in Arts.

Wash the Dust from My Eyes is a multi-genre, hardbound book tells the story of her grandfather—a World War I cavalryman who is uncertain about the future of the war. The book also draws from Lucretius and includes photographs of her grandfather.

Copies of Wash the Dust from My Eyes are currently available from the Accents Store.

To visit the Facebook page for the event, click here.

When: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 @ 6pm
Where: The Carnegie Center
251 W. Second Street
Lexington, KY 40507
(859) 254-4175

Jay McCoy Reads with Julie Hensley at the Morris book shop

At 6pm today, the Morris book shop will host Jay McCoy reading from The Occupation and Julie Hensley reading from Viable (Five Oaks Press). Both authors will also be signing their books after the reading.

Jay McCoy has deep roots in Eastern Kentucky, works at the Morris book shop, co-founded the Teen Howl Poetry Series, and occasionally heads LGBT writing workshops for the Carnegie Center.

Julie Hensley is an Associate Professor at Eastern Kentucky University and lives in Richmond, Kentucky with her husband and two children. She grew up on a sheep farm and loves horses. Viable explores motherhood and fertility.

When: Friday, December 18, 2015 @ 6pm
Where: the Morris book shop
882 E. High Street
Lexington. KY 40502
(859) 276-0494

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Poetry Reading: Circe’s Lament: Anthology of Wild Women Poetry

The Wild Fig Coffee & Books will be hosting a reading from Accents Publishing’s newest release Circe’s Lament: Anthology of Wild Women Poetry this upcoming Thursday, December 17th. Many of the contributors from the anthology will be reading, including:

Kate Hadfield
Bianca Spriggs
Karen George
Marilyn Kallet
Sherry Chandler
Tina Parker
Lynnell Edwards
Frank X Walker
Jeremy Paden
Tina Andry
K. Nicole Wilson

Circe’s Lament has been described by Cecilia Woloch, author of the 2014 Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize Earth and Narcissus, as a “celebration of the wild feminine: the fierce, the furious, the bruised and battered, the hilarious, the mythical, the stereotypical, the fairytale turned inside out.”

Circe’s Lament: Anthology of Wild Women Poetry can be ordered at our website here.

When: Thursday, December 17, 2015 @ 7pm
Where: The Wild Fig
726 N. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 252-3052