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UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
June 14 (Saturday, today) @ 9pm EST – The Greater Waterbury LGBTQIA+ Pride is hosting an Open Mic Night Fundraiser featuring poet Trace Peterson as the emcee. Sign up to read either online or in person when you arrive. The venue will be Cuppa Tea Cafe, located at 102 Grand Street, Waterbury, CT. More details about the Open Mic as well as other Pride Month events can be found on the Coalition website. June 16 (Monday) @ 6pm EST – Real Art Ways presents Reginald Dwayne Betts reading from and in conversation about his new collection of poetry Doggerel. Published on the twentieth anniversary of Betts’s release from prison, he is a 2021 MacArthur Fellow and also celebrated for his work as a lawyer and the founder and director of Freedom Reads, a first-of-its-kind organization that is radically transforming access to literature in prison. Located at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street, Harford, CT. Free to attend; registration required. June 18 (Wednesday) @ 7pm EST – Poets on Poetry presents an online talk and discussion about Rilke and the Birth of the Modern by Judith K. Liebmann, the inaugural Poet Laureate of Branford, CT. Free to attend; registration required for the Zoom link. June 21 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The monthly CT Poetry Society Workshop, hosted by our very own Ed Ahern, which takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Wilton Public Library in the Rimer Room, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, CT. Bring a poem to share with the group for critique. Free to attend; registration required. July 5 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST - On the first Saturday of each month, People and Their Poems podcast, along with Orenaug Mountain Publishing, host an online poetry roundtable. They feature one or two poets who read three or four poems. Other poets share a poem. This is a supportive environment where creativity and kindness merge in an alchemic reaction that produces hope. All are welcome. Email orenaugmountainpublishing.org for the Zoom link to participate in the July 5 roundtable. Check out their YouTube link for the podcast. July 7 (Monday) @ 7:00-8:15pm EST - The "Poetry in the Garden" festival presents a series of FREE readings in the beautiful walled gardens of Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield (152 Main St.). These themed "Voices from Marginalized America" events include poets whose work represents historically oppressed communities, including Indigenous Americans Kimberly Blaeser, Natasha Gambrell, and Denise Low on July 7. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. In the event of inclement weather, the reading moves indoors. Books will be available for signing. Ample parking on site. July 9 (Wednesday) @ 5pm EST - RJ Julia’s Local and Independent Author Program brings together local authors to present their books. July's featured genre is poetry, and will include the Poets' Salon own Mary Keating! RJ Julia is located at 413 Main Street in Middletown, CT. July 10 (Thursday) @ 6 p.m. – Orenaug Mountain Publishing launches Lost Love at The Hickory Stick Bookshop, located at 2 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot, CT. The poets from around the world who contributed their work to Lost Love reflect on what it means to love, to remember, to say goodbye, and to long for one more word or moment with a loved one. Several Connecticut contributors will be on hand to share their work and discuss their inspiration at the book launch. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts Deadline: June 15, 2025 They’re looking for prose poetry, as long as it is compressed in some way. Fast response time (less than a week). Free to submit; they pay writers $50 per accepted piece. Publisher: The Ex-Puritan Deadline: June 25, 2025 Send up to four poems at a time. They’re looking for poems of any length (including sequences and long poems). Simultaneous subs ok. Free to submit (donation appreciated); payment of $50 CAD per poem or $100 for multiple poems. Publisher: Last Stanza Poetry Journal Deadline: June 30, 2025 Send up to 3 poems on the theme of “conversations.” Poems can be any style; they prefer non-rhyming. A single $100 award will be given for an outstanding poem. Publisher: Chestnut Review Deadline: June 30, 2025 Submit up to 3 poems for free, 6 poems for an added fee ($5), or 3 poems with reader feedback ($15) or full editorial feedback ($59 for 3 poems, $99 for $6). Length and format are open. Payment of $120 per piece accepted. Publisher: Ghost Light Lit Deadline: June 30, 2025 Ghost Light Lit is seeking submissions for their fourth issue, themed “Myths & Monsters.” Submit up to 2 poems of any length. They hope to “publish work that is both experimental and inspiring.” No submission fee; no payment for publication. Publisher: Anthology: America's Slide Toward Authoritarianism (IHRAM Press) Deadline: July 1, 2025 Submit up to 3 poems on the theme of America’s authoritarianism. Free to submit; payment of $50 per accepted piece. Publisher: Tough Poets Review Deadline: No deadline Send up to 5 poems, no more than 10 pages total. Sim sub ok. They provide contributor's copies and a $5 payment to writers and artists whose work is accepted.
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UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
May 10 (Saturday, TODAY) @ 11am-5pm EST - Come join the Connecticut Book Festival with more than 40 local authors and over 50 artisans at the 27th Westville Artwalk, located at the Westville Village Historic District, 827 Whalley Ave in New Haven, CT. Our very own Mary Keating will be one of the local authors! May 15 (Thursday) @ 7pm-9pm EST – The Sleeping Giant Reading Series brings writers and book lovers together in person. This month features award-winning mystery writer Karen E. Olson and poet Lloyd Schwartz, who’s an arts critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and won a Pulitzer Prize for music criticism. Readings are at 7, followed by a writers' happy hour where the audience can talk with the readers and meet one another. The series is free, but donations are accepted and books and drinks are sold. Best Video is located at 1842 Whitney Avenue in Hamden, CT. May 15 (Thursday) @ 7pm-8:30pm EST – Wintonbury Poetry Workshop Alphabet Soup: Writing the Abecedarian (Virtual). Join Old Saybrook Poet Laureate Sandy Yannone online as she guides you through the crafting of one of the most fun forms in contemporary poetry, the Abecedarian. Learn how using this alphabet form can support you in unlocking narratives and lyrics you’ve longed to write. No experience necessary. Free to attend; registration required for the Zoom link. May 17 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The monthly CT Poetry Society Workshop, hosted by our very own Ed Ahern, which takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Wilton Public Library in the Rimer Room, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, CT. Bring a poem to share with the group for critique. Free to attend; registration required. May 19 (Monday) @ 7pm EST – In this Poets on Poetry (PoP) online session, Annie Finch will share her tips for awakening the magic of poetry by hearing, reading, scanning, and writing in a variety of poetic meters. Bring your meter questions and lines of poetry to share for feedback. Free to attend online; registration required for the Zoom link. May 22 (Thursday) @ 7pm-8:30pm – Wintonbury Poetry Workshop Everyone is Shakespeare: A Collective Sonnet Workshop (Virtual). Join Old Saybrook Poet Laureate Sandy Yannone online as we examine the sonnet form, sharing classic and contemporary examples before collectively generating the 14-end line words to write your own sonnet. Free to attend; registration required for the Zoom link. May 31 (Saturday) @ 7-9pm EST – Poets at Large presents Saturday Night Poetry at The Vanilla Bean Café, 450 Deerfield Road in Pomfret, CT. Readings and open mic, featuring author, poet, and journalist Meg Smith. Admission $15, which includes a raffle. Contact Karen [email protected] to sign up for the open mic (5 minutes max). PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: The Stinging Fly Deadline: May 15, 2025 Based in Ireland, they’re looking for poems on the theme of the climate crisis. Send up to 3 poems per submission. They have a featured poet per issue (either with a published book or working toward a collection), wherein they publish 5-6 of their poems. No fee to submit; they pay €45 per magazine page, but with a minimum payment of €70 per poem. Contributors also receive a copy of the issue where their work is published. Publisher: The 11th SUSPECT Poetry Contest Deadline: May 15, 2025 SUSPECT calls for poems that use the word “fable” or its variants in an imaginative fashion. They want fables and anti-fables, fable-adjacent poems, and fabulous conceptions and language. Submit up to 3 poems. No fee to submit; awards of $300, $200, and $100 to the top 3 winners. Publisher: Changing Light Prize Deadline: May 30, 2025 Contest for a novel-in-verse. Recommended length: 90-160 pages. No entry fee. $500 prize plus 20 copies published by Livingston Press, with a standard royalty contract. Publisher: Poet Lore Deadline: May 31, 2025 Submit up to 5 poems (10 pages max). They accept all formats of poetry. Simultaneous submissions ok. No fee to submit; payment of $50 per published poem. Publisher: Broken Sleep Books Deadline: May 31, 2025 Open for submissions of poetry collections (40+ pages). Simultaneous submissions ok. Collaborative submissions ok. Free to submit; payment of 10% royalties and 5 free author copies, with all other books at a 50% discount. In their submission guidelines, “We encourage more working-class, LGBTQ+, and POC writers to submit. Politically we are left wing, and have no interest in misogynists, racist, sexists, the alt-right, or dickheads in general.” Publisher: Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest Deadline: June 1, 2025 Submit up to 3 sonnets per entry. $5 fee to submit (no fee for students). Blind read. Cash prizes totaling over $3,000 will be awarded in 4 categories. Winning sonnets will be published. UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
April 16 (Wednesday) @ 12pm-2pm EST – AuthorSpeak presents our very own Poets’ Salon member Mary Keating, who will be reading from her debut book Recalibrating Gravity. Located in the 3/4 auditorium at the Norwalk Library at 1 Belden Ave in Norwalk, CT. RSVP required, and they serve a light lunch at the event. April 17 (Thursday) @ 4:30pm EST – The Allan KL. Smith Reading Series presents Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Grant winner Jericho Brown in conversation with Professor David Sterling Brown. Located in the Washington Room in Mather Hall at Trinity College at 300 Summit Street in Hartford, CT. Free to attend; RSVP required. April 17 (Thursday) @ 7pm-9pm EST – The Sleeping Giant Reading Series at Best Video in Hamden features poet Rebecca Brock and novelist Peter Trachtenberg. Readings are at 7, followed by a writers' happy hour where the audience can talk with the readers and meet one another. Best Video is located at 1842 Whitney Avenue in Hamden. Free to attend, but donations are accepted and books and drinks are sold. April 19 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The monthly CT Poetry Society Workshop, hosted by our very own Ed Ahern, which takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Wilton Public Library in the Rimer Room, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, CT. Bring a poem to share with the group for critique. Free to attend; registration required. April 22 (Tuesday) @ 6pm-7:30pm EST – Poetry Now! Presents a guided reading and discussion group at the Noah Webster Library, 20 South Main Street in West Hartford, CT in the board room. Gather to read and discuss poems from contemporary writers that speak to our lives today. This class is taught by UCONN English Professor and former West Hartford Poet Laureate Julie Choffel. Free to attend; registration required. April 24 (Thursday) @ 7pm EST – Poets on Poetry presents The Haiku of Santōka Taneda, an online talk and discussion led by Stamford M. Forrester. Santōka Taneda was Japan's last wandering poet and a major literary figure in the free-form or free-style haiku movement during the first half of the twentieth century. Zoom Registration link. April 25 (Friday) @ 7pm-9:30pm EST – The Mystic Café presents poet Taylor Mali from the HBO series Def Poetry Jam. He will be reading at La Grua Center at 32 Water Street in Stonington, CT, along with the student poets laureate of Southeastern Connecticut and Westerly. Tickets are free for students, $20 for general admission. May 3 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The WordHouse Reading Series presents poet Danielle Chapman and short story writer Ethan Rutherford reading from their latest work. The reading starts with an open mic and is located at the Noah Webster House at 227 South Main Street in West Hartford, CT. Free to attend. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: Seaside Gothic Deadline: Open April 14-20, 2025 Submit 1 poem at a time. This UK-based magazine publishes work that meets the criteria of seaside gothic literature (led by emotion and duality). Free to submit; pay: £0.01/word, sim subs ok. Publisher: Rattle: Tribute to Late Bloomers Deadline: April 15, 2025 Their Fall 2025 issue will be dedicated to poems written by "late bloomers"—those who only started publishing poetry regularly after the age of 50. Submit up to 4 poems (or pages of short poems). Free to submit; contributors in print receive $200/poem and a complimentary one-year subscription to the magazine. Online contributors receive $100/poem. Publisher: Consequence Forum Deadline: April 15, 2025 Submit up to 3 poems at a time – any type/format. They publish work that tackles the subject of war and geopolitical violence. All works will be considered for online and print. Free to submit; payment of $20/poem for print poetry, $30-50 for online poetry. Publisher: Connecticut River Review Deadline: April 15, 2025 Send up to three poems, totaling no more than four pages, on a single document, one poem / page. Sim subs ok. No submission fee, although they ask for a donation. No payment except for a copy of the journal in which your publication appears. Publisher: Shenandoah Literary Deadline: Opens April 15, 2025 (closes when they reach 500 subs) Send up to 5 pieces, not more than 10 pages total. The theme is multilingual poetry. Free to submit; they pay for each accepted poem (rates not listed on their website). Publisher: Astrolabe Deadline: April 20, 2025 Astrolabe is looking for work about how people seek out, discover, and grasp onto connection. No lineated poetry, only prose poetry. Send up to 3 poems at a time. Sim subs to ok. Free to submit; payment of $50 upon publication. Publisher: Harbor Review Deadline: April 30, 2025 They want submissions on the (Sub)liminal theme. Submit up to 3 poems. Free to submit; payment of $10 per poem. They also offer poetry critiques for $25 (3 poems) to $99 (10 poems). Publisher: Ekphrastic Review Deadline: April 30, 2025 Submit up to 5 ekphrastic poems, which is "creative writing inspired by visual art." Wherever the art takes you is fine, whether it is "about" the art or artist, or about something else. Poetry can be any length. Sim subs ok. Reprints ok. Submission fee of $5 CAD (about ($3.70 USD). No payment. Publisher: Circling Rivers Press Deadline: None The press is open to unagented submissions of poetry chapbooks of 76+ pages. Free to submit. RECOMMENDED Peace By the Sea by Harry L. Thomas – Just released! The author is a friend of our Poets’ Salon member David Boston, who highly recommends it. A short description of the book: “An elegant compilation of wisdom, guidance, and photography by the sea to inspire personal strength and inner peace. It reflects Harry's personal formula for living his best life, illustrated by 111 color photographs and carefully selected quotes.” UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
March 9 (Sunday) @ 4pm-6pm – Vicinanza Studios & Gallery’s Second Sunday Poetry and Music event, featuring acclaimed poets Steven Ostrowski and David Cappella and an open mic. Located at 493 Heritage Road, Suite 4C in Southbury, CT. Free and open to the public (donations welcome). March 11 (Tuesday) @ 6:30pm EST – Poetry reading the second Tuesday of every month at Black Rock Books at 3030 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, CT, with our very own Poets’ Salon Edward Ahern reading their poetry, as well as Janet Krauss and other great local poets. Free to attend; $5 suggested donation at the door. RSVP requested. March 15 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The monthly CT Poetry Society Workshop, hosted by our very own Ed Ahern, which takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Wilton Public Library in the Rimer Room, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, CT. Bring a poem to share with the group for critique. Free to attend; registration required. March 16 (Sunday) @ 2pm EST – Local poets who contributed to the Orenaug Mountain Publishing Personal Freedom anthology will read during Poetry in the Afternoon at Byrd’s Books in Bethel on Sunday, March 16, at 4 p.m. Michael Garry of Danbury, Rick Magee, poet laureate of Bethel, Martin Giroux of Bethlehem, and Sandy Lee Carlson, poet laureate emerita of Woodbury and the editor of the collection, will be featured. Many of the poems in the international anthology echo the values and rights of the people bestowed by the U.S. Constitution. The collection will be on sale the day of the event for $15. March 20 (Thursday) @ 7pm-9:30pm EST – Wintonbury Poetry Series presents an online reading by Jim Kelleher and Melissa Dione McEwen (published in Connecticut Literary Anthology, Rattle). The reading will be followed by an open mic. Free to attend; registration required for the Zoom link. March 27 (Thursday) @ 7pm EST – Poets on Poetry (POP) presents Bruce Cohen, leading an online talk entitled: “There's No Such Thing As Free Verse: Prosody in Ultra Talk Poetry or What Makes a Poem a Poem?” Presented by the Connecticut Poetry Society, this is a free event. April 3 (Thursday) @ 5:30pm-7pm EST – The Wolcott Public Library presents a poetry series of local poets with an open mic event. The library is located at 469 Boundline Road in Wolcott, CT. Any format of spoken word is welcome – readings are 5 minutes long. Register to read at the link. Poems from Connecticut’s Four Corners - Poetry readings online once a month, and the organizer Barb Jennes is always looking for more local poets to invite to read. Contact her at [email protected] if you're interested in reading your poetry at a live event. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: CT State Poet Laureate Deadline: March 15, 2025 The state of CT is now accepting nominations for the Connecticut State Poet Laureate. Serve a three-year term from July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2028. Be a Connecticut resident during the full three-year term. Present up to three public events annually as requested by COA. Participate in poetry experiences throughout Connecticut. Any Connecticut resident may nominate one eligible poet who embodies the characteristics of the Poet Laureate role. Publisher: Banshee Deadline: March 31, 2025 Submit up to 4 poems of no more than 40 lines each. Theme for the next issue: “Speculative Fiction,” or “It doesn’t have to be this way.” Simultaneous submissions ok. Free to submit; €50 paid per published piece. Publisher: Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest Deadline: April 1, 2025 A contest looking for a humor poem Blind read. No fee to enter. First prize: $2,000, second prize: $500, third prize: $250, 10 honorable mentions: $100. Top 13 entries published online at Winning Writers. Publisher: carte blanche Deadline: April 12, 2025 Maximum 3 poems per submission; any format of poetry ok. Simultaneous submissions ok. Free to submit; $75 paid per published piece. Publisher: LIBER Deadline: None LIBER is a broadly feminist publication that welcomes feminist submissions of poetry. Send no more than 5 poems. Free to submit; $50 is paid per poem upon publication. Publisher: Josephine Quarterly Deadline: None Submit up to 5 poems of any length. Simultaneous submissions ok. Free to submit; $30 paid per published piece. MEMBER NEWS Our very own Poets' Salon member Kristi Joy has a poem published in the new anthology: Call and Response To Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer an Anthology of Wild Writing (Call and Response Poetry Series with Wild Writing and Prose Poems), which is FREE on Kindle today - so, check it out! UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
February 11 (Tuesday) @ 6:30pm EST – Poetry reading the second Tuesday of every month at Black Rock Books at 3030 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, CT, with our very own Poets’ Salon Vincent Convertito and Edward Ahern reading their poetry, as well as Janet Krauss and other great local poets. Free to attend; $5 suggested donation at the door. RSVP requested. February 13 (Thursday) @ 4pm-6pm EST – Valentine’s Book Signing & Spontaneous Poetry Reading at The Shop at Guilford Art Center (411 Church Street in Guilford, CT) with author Jen Payne, who will be signing copies of her book Sleeping with Ghosts, handing out homemade cookies, and doing spontaneous poetry readings. February 15 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The monthly CT Poetry Society Workshop, hosted by our very own Ed Ahern, which takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Wilton Public Library in the Rimer Room, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, CT. Bring a poem to share with the group for critique. Free to attend; registration required. February 16 (Sunday) @ 3pm EST – Former poet laureate of CT Margaret Gibson will do a dramatic poetry reading from her book Draw Me Without Boundaries with the actress Tori Richnavsky. They will perform excerpts of the book at the Phoenix Stage Company, located at 133 Main Street in Oakville, CT. Free to attend, and copies of the book will be available for sale. February 20 (Thursday) @ 7pm-9:30pm EST – Wintonbury Poetry Series presents an online reading by Nzima Hutchins and Steven Ostrowski. The reading will be followed by an open mic. Free to attend; registration required for the Zoom link. February 23 (Sunday) @ 5pm EST – Poetry reading by Branford’s Poet Laureate, Judith K. Liebmann at Breakwater Books, 81 Whitfield Street in Guilford, CT. Liebmann will read from her latest book; refreshments and book signing to follow the reading. Registration required. $4 entrance fee (free/discounted for store members). February 27 (Thursday) @ 6pm EST – The Central Connecticut State University Media Board Lecture Series is hosting the CT Poet Laureate Antoinette Brim-Bell at the Willard-DiLoreto Hall, Room 121 at their Central Campus in New Britain, CT. Free event February 28 (Friday) @ 7pm EST – The Hope Out Loud Open Mic is held on the last Friday of every month at the Hartford Friends (Quaker) Meeting House (backyard), located at 144 South Quaker Lane in West Hartford, CT. Poems from Connecticut’s Four Corners - Poetry readings online once a month, and the organizer Barb Jennes is always looking for more local poets to invite to read. Contact her at [email protected] if you're interested in reading your poetry at a live event. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine Deadline: February 14, 2025 The Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine awards international prizes for unpublished poems on medical subjects in English. Prizes are given for poems written by health professionals or medical students; for poems written by anyone anywhere (the open category); and for poems by younger writers aged between fourteen and eighteen. Poems must be no more than 50 lines in length. There is no limit to the number of entries. Reading fee of £6 per poem submitted. The prize money for the Open and Health Professional Categories is: 1st: £1000 2nd: £500 3rd: £250. The prize money for the Young Poets Prize is: 1st: £250. Publisher: Hayden's Ferry Review Fiction & Poetry Contest Deadline: February 28, 2025 Submit 1-3 poems totaling up to 10 pages. $15 or $23 entry fee, which comes with a 1-year digital or print subscription to Hayden’s Ferry Review. There will be two prizes of $1000 each and publication in HFR (online in summer 2025 and in the fall/winter 2025 print issue) for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category will receive $250 and publication. All entries are considered for publication. Publisher: Sixfold Deadline: February 28, 2025 A cooperative writer’s contest. Writers that submit work to Sixfold are expected to participate in three rounds of voting. In each round, every writer is assigned six (6) manuscripts from other writers for which they will provide feedback and a numeric ranking. At the end of the third round, the top fifteen (15) short stories and the top thirty (30) sets of poems are offered publication in Sixfold, and the highest-voted manuscript in each genre wins $1000. Submission fee: $5. Publisher: Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award Deadline: March 1, 2025 Poetry manuscripts should not exceed ten pages, single or double-spaced (minimum of 7 pages). One poet and one fiction writer will be selected as winners. Winners will be announced in summer 2025. Each will receive: A $500 honorarium, an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City in fall 2025 to meet with editors, agents, publishers, and other writers, and to give a public reading, hosted by Poets & Writers, and a one-month residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming. FREE to submit. UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
January 12 (Sunday) @ 4pm EST - Vicinanza Studios & Gallery (VSG) presents Poetry and Music Open Mic night Second Sunday, featuring Mar Walker and John Jeffrey. All readers/musicians in the open mic can perform up to 5 minutes and, if time allows, you will have a second chance at the mic. Vicinanza Studios & Gallery is located at 493 Heritage Road, Suite 4C, in Southbury, CT. January 14 (Tuesday) @ 6pm-7pm EST – Connecting Through Poetry, an online workshop with New England poet Latina Bohemian. This virtual workshop will explore the profound impact of poetry on personal expression, social connection, cultural awareness, and its importance as a medium for storytelling and emotional expression. This workshop is designed for both beginner and seasoned poets and offers a welcoming space to share ideas, connect with others, and ignite your creative spirit. For those interested, there will be time at the end to share your own pieces. January 14 (Tuesday) @ 6:30pm-7:30pm – Poetry Night at Black Rock Books, with readers Edward Ahern and Janet Krauss. Free to attend. January 16 (Thursday) @ 7pm-9pm EST – The Sleeping Giant Reading Series presents guests Danielle Chapman and Hank Paper. Readings at 7 are followed by a Writers' Happy Hour where writers (and their friends) can meet up and mingle with one another and with their guest readers. Admission is free; donations are accepted. Located at 1842 Whitney Avenue in Hamden, CT. January 16 (Thursday) @ 7pm-9:30pm EST – Wintonbury Poetry Series presents an online reading by Brad Davis and Julia Paul. The reading will be followed by an open mic. Free to attend; registration required for the Zoom link. January 18 (Saturday) @ 2pm EST – The CT Poetry Society Workshop, hosted by our very own Ed Ahern, which takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month at the Wilton Public Library in the Rimer Room, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, CT. Bring a poem to share with the group for critique. Free to attend; registration required. January 26 (Sunday) @ 1:30pm-2:45pm, 3pm-5pm EST – A Writing Workshop at 1:30pm with Julia Paul, the Poet Laureate of Manchester, followed by a separate event with a reading by Julia Paul and Scott Frey at 3pm and an open mic after the reading. The workshop is $20; the reading is free. Both events are at Arts Center East, located at 709 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon, CT. To register for the workshop: https://artscentereast.org/product/poetry-workshop/. To register for the reading, email [email protected] or go to https://artscentereast.org/. January 31 (Friday) @ 7pm – The Hope Out Loud Open Mic is held on the last Friday of every month at the Hartford Friends (Quaker) Meeting House (backyard), located at 144 South Quaker Lane in West Hartford, CT. February 5 (Wednesday) @ 5-8pm EST – Walk-In Workshop presents “Give a Poem” with Branford’s Poet Laureate Judith Liebmann. Come into the Willoughby Wallace Library, located at 146 Thimble Islands Road in Stony Creek, CT, anytime between 5-8pm and leave with a poem for your loved one. Free to attend; call to register: 203-488-8702. February 5 (Wednesday) @ 7pm-8:15pm EST – Poems from CT's Four Corners, an online event hosted by the Ridgefield Library with five noteworthy Connecticut poets – Victor Altshul, Sharon Charde, Ed Lent, Angela Siew and Edwina Trentham. Facilitated by Barb Jennes (Poet Laureate Emerita of Ridgefield). Free to attend; registration required to get Zoom link. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: Nzima Hutchings Deadline: January 15, 2025 Enfield Poet Laureate Nzima Hutchings is seeking poetry and visual art submissions for an upcoming Jazz Poetry Anthology. She is looking for rhythmic, jazz-inspired poetry that celebrates the essence of jazz through playful alliteration, cadence and rhythm, visual metaphors inspired by blues and jazz, skit-skat energy and Harlem Renaissance-inspired language. Submissions may include drawings, paintings, collages or photography in black-and-white or vibrant colors. Send your work to [email protected] with "Jazz Poetry Submission" in the subject line. No submission fee; no payment. Selected poets from the anthology will also be invited to perform their works on Nzima’s Poetry Café Television Show. Publisher: Slippery Elm Poetry Prize Deadline: February 1, 2025 $15 entry fee for up to 3 poems (no line/length limit). Simultaneous subs ok. Blind judging. $1000 prize. All contest entrants will receive a copy of the winning issue and be considered for publication. Publisher: Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, Paterson Poetry Prizes Deadline: February 1, 2025 (postmarked – hard copy only) $18 submission fee per entry.
Publisher: Nymeria Publishing Deadline: No deadline Looking for full-length poetry manuscripts of 100 pages or above. For poetry submissions, a single poem or essay can take up more than one page but do not put more than one poem or essay per page. Response in about 4 months. No submission fee; offers both traditional contracts and hybrid publishing. Publisher: rainy weather days: a defiant literary magazine Deadline: No deadline Sub up to 5 poems per submission. Looking for poetry along the theme of “defiance.” No submission fee; pays $10 per published piece. UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
November 10 (Sunday) @ 2pm-6pm – Ekphrasis: Poetry & Music & Visual Art Open House at the Artspace Hartford Gallery at 555 Asylum Avenue in Hartford. Free to attend, and you can sign up at the link if you’d like to participate. Refreshments will be served. Donations are accepted. There is parking on the street beyond Union Station or in the Union Station paid lot directly across from ArtSpace ($5 with validation). November 12 (Tuesday) @ 5pm – A poetry reading with Pulitzer Prize-Winner Rae Armantrout at the Office of Admissions, McKelvey Room at Wesleyan University, located at 70 Wyllys Ave in Middletown. Free and open to the public. November 13 (Wednesday) @ 7pm – Riverwood Poetry Series @ Real Art Ways will host contributing poets from the anthology, Of Hartford in Many Lights: Celebrating Hartford’s Buildings at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street in Hartford. Readers include: Dennis Barone, Debbie Ducoff-Barone, Ginny Connors, Julia Paul, Brad Davis, Joan Hofmann, Jim Finnegan, Clare Rossini, Srini Mandavilli, Christine Beck, Marilyn Johnston, Catherine Hoyser, and Pegi Deitz Shea. Poems inspired by Wallace Stevens. The anthology will be available to buy for book signing & conversation, and beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks will be available for purchase. Free to attend. November 14 (Thursday) @ 6:30pm – Our very own Poets’ Salon member Mary Keating in conversation with Dr. Karen Shields to discuss the healing power of poetry on both an individual and community level. Mary is a local author, poet, and lawyer and Dr. Karen Shields is an Integrative Wellness Clinician. Free to attend at Barrett Bookstore at 5 Corbin Drive in Darien, although RSVP requested. November 14 (Thursday) @ 5:30pm-7pm – Poets from the faculty of the University of Hartford respond to visual art from Pathways: The Hartford Art School Faculty Show. Readers include Mary Fister, Benjamin Grossberg, and Ines Rivera, and moderated by Krista Narciso. Attendees will be invited to participate in a Q&A after the reading. Refreshments will be available. The Joseloff Gallery is in Harry Jack Gray, building 15 on this campus map at the University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford. Free and open to the public. Contact Ben Grossberg with questions: [email protected]. November 22 (Friday) @ 7pm – Poet Margaret Gibson and Actress Tori Richnavsky will present a dramatic reading of Gibson's new book, Draw Me Without Boundaries. Music from Ted Mook & Heath Allen. Admission $30, students free. Located at the LaGrua Center, 32 Water Street in Stonington. Doors open at 6:30pm. https://theartscafemystic.org/next-show PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: CLOCKHOUSE Deadline: November 15, 2024 Submit up to three poems of any length per reading period. All poetry in traditional and experimental styles, including prose poetry, are welcome. Simultaneous submissions ok. No reading fee; payment of 1 contributor’s copy. Publisher: Full Bleed Deadline: November 15, 2024 Send up to 3 poems per submission. Looking for poetry in all genres, particularly in the ars poetica vein or on the themes of “manifesto” or “censorship.” Also looking for genre-combining works. Publisher: Memezine: weird little guys flash poetry & prose contest Deadline: November 15, 2024 Poems should be “weird and short.” 1 page max. Enjoy hybrid work. First entry free, all subsequent entries $5 (to increase the prize pool). 1st place: $69, 2nd place: $21, 3rd place: $10, runner-ups: $4.20. Sim subs ok. Publisher: Chicken Soup for the Soul – 3 anthologies: Cat Stories, Change your habits & attitudes/change your life, and Miracles, messages from heaven & angels Deadline: November 30, 2024 Poems of up to 1,200 words. They do not publish poems that don’t tell a story. A Chicken Soup for the Soul poem does the same job as a story. The reader goes away having learned your story, just through poetry instead of prose. They also do not publish poems that seem overly focused on rhyming and read more like greeting cards. Payment of $250 for acceptances. Publisher: Eternal Haunted Summer: Fortune and Luck Deadline: December 1, 2024 Their tagline is “Pagan Songs & Tales,” and they’re looking for poetry about gods, goddesses, heroes, myths, folklore, and the world’s pagan traditions either from a historical or contemporary perspective. The theme for Winter Solstice 2024 is ‘Fortune and Luck.’ No length limit; pay of $5. Sim subs ok. Publisher: Cypress Review Deadline: December 9, 2024 Submit up to five poems, up to five pages total. Cypress Review is a new online journal of “lyrical, contemplative, and contemporary” writing. Sim subs ok. Pays an honorarium (amount not specified). UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
October 13 (Sunday) @ 5-6:30pm – Celebrating James Longenbach’s final book Seafarer and a posthumous reading of his poems by Professor Joanna Scott and a panel of friends of the library. Hosted by the James Merrill House and both livestreamed and located at the Stonington Free Library at 20 High Street in Stonington. October 16 (Wednesday) @ 7-8pm – Poets on Poetry (PoP) presents Poets Martín Espada and Jose B. Gonzalez discuss the promise and potential of poetry to impact the prevailing sense of social justice. Poet/essayist Suzanne Frischkorn will moderate. Free, and please register to receive the Zoom link: bit.ly/3XO1MbT. October 17 (Thursday) @ 6pm – A reading and signing with Amy Glynn from her book Romance Language, winner of the Able Muse Book Prize. Located at Bank Square Books at 80 Stonington Road in Mystic. October 17 (Thursday) @ 7pm – Wintonbury Poetry Reading Series, featuring poets Jim Finnegan and John Stanizzi, followed by an open mic. Meeting is free and online; sign up to receive the meeting link. October 19 (Saturday) @ 2pm – The WordHouse Reading Series presents Marilyn E Johnston and John L Stanizzi. Reading begins with an open mic. Free event, but donations welcome. Located at the Noah Webster House at 227 South Main Street in West Hartford. October 20 (Sunday) @ 2-4pm – Woodhall Press presents authors and poets reading from the annual Connecticut Literary Anthology at Mark Twain House & Museum, located at 351 Farmington Avenue in Hartford. Free to attend; RSVP required (60 people max). October 25 (Friday) @ 7pm – The Arts Café Mystic presents Colin Channer, the Rhode Island Poet Laureate and author of the New Yorker Best Book of the Year. Admission: $20, free for students. Located at La Grua Center at 32 Water Street in Stonington. Free parking. October 29 (Tuesday) @ 5:30pm – Poetry reading with Nathan McClain & Hank Rossouw at Barnes & Noble UConn Hartford Bookstore, 18 Front Street in Hartford. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Julie Choffel at [email protected]. November 2 (Saturday) @ 10am-5pm – The 8th Annual Norwalk Book and Author Festival is being held at the Norwalk Library, located at 10 Washington Street in Norwalk. The event will include our very own Salon member Mary Keating, featuring her debut poetry book Recalibrating Gravity. Our very own Salon member Marla Sterling did a recent reading with the Four Corners reading series. If you missed it live, you can watch the recorded episode on the Ridgefield Library YouTube channel. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: Santa Clara Review Deadline: October 15, 2024 Submit up to 3 poems at a time. Simultaneous submissions ok. $2 reading fee; no payment. Publisher: The Hoolet’s Nook Deadline: October 21, 2024 Submit up to 3 poems of up to 100 words each. They welcome all poetry types but hold a special interest in haiku/senryu sequences. Simultaneous subs ok. No payment; no submission fee. Publisher: Unfortunately, Literary Magazine Deadline: October 31, 2024 Your piece must be rejected elsewhere at least once before submitting to them. Simultaneous submissions ok. Send up to 3 poems per submission. Publisher: Y2K Deadline: October 31, 2024 Work that reminds a reader of the 2000s. Simultaneous submissions ok. Multiple submission ok. Submissions should be under 2k words. No payment; no reading fee. Publisher: Lines+Stars Deadline: November 1, 2024 Submit 3-5 poems less than 2,000 words. Theme: "in the blood.” No payment; no reading fee. Publisher: Dishsoap Quarterly Deadline: No deadline Max 3 poems per submission, no word limit. Reprints ok. Fast response time (generally within a week). No payment; no reading fee. Publisher: Heroica Deadline: No deadline Any length poetry ok. No reading fee; £5 payment. Publisher: Neologism Poetry Journal Deadline: No deadline Send 5 or fewer previously unpublished poems. Formal poetry ok. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. No more than 10 pages total. Fast response time. No reading fee; no payment. UPCOMING POETRY READINGS/WORKSHOPS
Sign up for the 8th Annual Norwalk Book and Author Festival—this is an open call for local authors to participate on Saturday, November 2, 2024 (must sign up in advance). Reply and confirm as soon as possible since our space is limited. 6-ft tables are provided by the library with (2) authors at each table. The Norwalk Public Library will also open doors at 8 am for author set-up, provide a continental breakfast and meet and greet for authors from 9-10, and open to the public at 10 am. In addition, the library will provide a light lunch for all participants. Contact person is Cynde Bloom Lahey, the Director of Library Information Services at the Norwalk Public Library, located at 10 Washington Street in Norwalk. Details about event Signup form September 15 (Sunday) @ 2-3:30pm – A free online workshop about Sentimentality, Character, and the Health of Your Poem. Presented by poet/educator Patrick Donnelly, it will explore how to offset the sweet, "squishy" effect of sentimentality in your poems with harder, drier language and images. A short exercise will challenge participants to toughen up a sentimental passage or - even more fun - ruin an unsentimental poem by loading it with syrup. September 15 (Sunday) @ 2-4pm – Poets at Large, featuring Antoinette Brim-Bell, MA Beat Poet Laureate Linda Bratcher Woldyka, and Christopher Reilley (former poet laureate of Dedham, MA). Free event that takes place at Roseland Park, 205 Roseland Park Road in Woodstock. September 18 (Wednesday) @ 6pm – Literary Open Mic at in the gallery at Woodbury Public Library at 269 Main Street South in Woodbury, CT. The theme is “colors.” Members of the Orenaug Poetry Group will be the featured poets. Woodbury Poet Laureate Sandy Carlson will moderate the open mic. Guests are invited to read writing related to the theme of colors. September 18 (Wednesday) @ 6:30pm – Writers Jeff Mock and Tim Parrish, both of Southern Connecticut State University, will be Laurel Peterson’s guests at Writers in Conversation at Norwalk Public Library at 1 Belden Avenue in Norwalk, CT. Each writer will read from their work, talk the literary life, teaching, the state of the world, and working with each other. September 22 (Sunday) @ 2-4pm – Riverbound Farm Reading and Open Mic, free and open to all poets. The Connecticut Poetry Society Executive Board Members will be the featured readers at Riverbound Farm, at 1881 Cheshire Street in Cheshire, CT. Followed by open mic. In the event of rain, the reading will be inside. September 26 (Thursday) @ 6-7:30pm – Reading and Open Mic for the Connecticut Poetry Society. Readings of ekphrastic poems, followed by an open mic for anyone who wants to share their poetry, prose, spoken word, or acoustic music. Sign-up for the open mic will begin at 5:45, and readers and musicians can perform for up to 5 minutes. September 29 (Sunday) @ 3pm – Poetry Rocks presents Vernon native, Emily Hockaday, who will read from her new book, In a Body; her former UCONN professor and poet Bruce Cohen; the neurodivergent poet Sarah St. George; and Rockville High’s Madi Maiolo. Reading followed by an open mic, refreshments, and book sales. PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR POETRY Publisher: Bronze Bird Books Deadline: September 15, 2024 / October 15, 2024 2 submission opportunities.
Publisher: Tales from the Kitchen anthology Deadline: September 16, 2024 50 lines for poetry (2 per person). Reprints okay. Contributors receive a digital contributor copy. On average, Tales publishes 35% of submissions received. Submission to Tales will always be free. Tales is published in digital and print; contributors receive a digital copy. Publisher: Carte Blanche Magazine Deadline: September 16, 2024 Submit max once a year – maximum 3 poems per submission. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Pays $75 per published piece. Publisher: 2024 Vivian Shipley Award Deadline: September 30, 2024 Submit up to three previously unpublished poems in a single document, no more than one poem per page; 80 line per poem limit. Blind read. Open to all poets. No AI. Simultaneous submissions accepted. $15 submission fee; $1,000 1st prize, $500 2nd prize, $100 3rd prize. All three poems will be published in Connecticut River Review. Publisher: 2025 Founders’ Prize Deadline: September 30, 2024 Entry fee is $15 per submission of up to 5 poems; first prize of $500 and two runners-up prizes of $100 each. Winners will also be nominated for a Pushcart Prize. All submissions are also considered for publication in RHINO’s 2025 issue, and for our $500 Editors' Prize. Publisher: Death Wish Poetry Magazine Deadline: None Online only. There is no word limit on poetry, but please be reasonable. No epic 40-page Odyssey sequels! No payment; no reading fee. |
About Us:The Poets' Salon is an all-inclusive group that gets together the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m in the Memorial Room at the Fairfield Public Library. We read our poetry aloud, politely critique each others' work (upon request), highlight publishing opportunities, and also talk about local poetry readings. Meeting Notes
June 2025
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