Lynne Thompson will read from her latest collection of poetry, Blue on a Blue Palette. Thompson has been celebrated as “…an outspoken force who uses words to tell stories, bring communities together, and open up new avenues of art and thinking.”

This National Poetry Month, let's celebrate the legacy and impact of Latine poets in the U.S. and around the world. Newly appointed San Diego Poet Laureate Paola Capó-García will share poems in English and Spanish from her favorite Latine poets of the 20th and 21st centuries in an effort to remind us of their cultural, political, and aesthetic influence. Bring your own favorite poem by a Latine author to share with the group or just come to listen and discuss.

Join San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez, who explores the poetics of memory as an act of anticolonial future-making.

A free, family-friendly event celebrating poetry composed in different languages. Guest Poets will present their poem in English and then in their native language, such as Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese, Japanese and even the language of Mathematics! Come learn how poetry of different languages is guided by different forms and rules, such as rhyming, meter, syllables, and/or subject matter.

April 5, 9am-6pm: Featured Poets Reading and SDPA Open Mic at San Diego Writers Festival! Join us for two inspiring events hosted by Michael Klam and Carly DeMento. Plan to meet us in the community room at 3:30pm. This year’s Featured Poets Reading will include 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry winner, Brandon Som, Kumeyaay Nation and American Book Award winner, Tommy Pico, outgoing and incoming San Diego Poet Laureates, Jason Magabo Perez and Paola Capó-García, and acclaimed poets Katie Manning and Shadab Zeest Hashmi.

San Diego Poetry Annual 2024-25 Book Launch at Point Loma Library hosted by Michael Klam and Jane Muschenetz. Featured anthology readers and open to the public. Sign up to read and get details at sdpoetryannual@gmail.com or SDPA Instagram: @sdpoetryannual.

Matthew Zapruder will read from his most recent collection of poetry, I Love Hearing Your Dreams, which has been lauded as “… a work of remarkable wit and disciplined emotional attentiveness.” This event is co-sponsored by the Instructionally Related Activities Fund.

2nd Sunday Jihmye Poetry Open Mic will gather on Sunday, March 9th at the Spacebar in La Mesa and on Zoom from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM.

The Lindsay J. Cropper Center for Creative Writing and the USD English Department cordially invite you to the next of our 2024-2025 events, a reading by scholar and poet Kimberly Johnson. The reading will take place on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 6 p.m., in Manchester Hall Auditorium. The reading will be followed by a dessert reception and book signing.

Join us for a poetry reading by local writers in the spirit of heritage, language and community.

The Writer's Symposium by the Sea and Warwick's present The Evening Interview with Sandra Cisneros. Sandra Cisneros is a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, performer, and artist.

Jim Miller will read from his recent publications including his poetry collection, Into the Bardo, which has been described as “full of wonder and wisdom.”

Don't miss this month's Every Prose Has Its Thorn reading (held at @sdwritersink) with two captivating authors, Jim Foley and Bear Wolf, and an open-mic poetry reading to follow.

Capó-García officially begins her two-year term as San Diego Poet Laureate with an inaugural reading and panel discussion at the San Diego Central Library at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.

As part of the monthly First Friday event at Liberty Station, we hold an open house at Inspirations Gallery so that you can enjoy the artwork on our walls, talk to fellow writers, and snack on a few treats. Please note that we sometimes hold talks and readings as well, which you can find on our Readings & Events page.

For February, Alisha Richard will be presenting poetry and storytelling.

Come join us for a night of powerful poetry celebrating Black history, the present, and the future.

Come join us for a night filled with beautiful poetry readings and live music at the Voices of Poetry event! Listen to talented poets share their work and immerse yourself in the power of words and music. This in-person event will take place at the Pacific Lounge Hilton Garden Inn, providing a cozy and intimate setting for an evening of artistic expression. Don't miss out on this opportunity to be inspired and moved by the voices of our talented poets. See you there!

Please join us as we celebrate the 2024 San Diego Local Authors at the 59th Annual Local Author Showcase Reception. The published book exhibit will be on display from January 31- February 28 in the Dickinson Popular Library at the Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common.

Enjoy readings from the latest volume of poetry written by Monarch School students.

Join us every fourth Monday of the month for Every Prose Has Its Thorn co-hosted by Brendan Praniewicz and Adam Greenfield. Each month will feature a reading from local authors and an open mic to follow.

January 27th’s featured readers are Jane Muschenetz and Cornelia Feye.

Join us January 25th from 6:30-8:30pm for a discussion and reading centered on the theme: “Chicana Writers & Community Bearers” at the wonderful Libélula Bookstore 🙌🏽❤️

We would love to meet, catch up, exchange resources, collaborate and be in conversation with you all! Bring your questions and big hearted spirits! Hope to see you there!

Palabra Reading Series at Bread & Salt, 7pm. A featured reading with open mic to follow.

January 23rd’s Featured Poet is Sonia Gutiérrez.

PLNU M.A. in Writing Program Presents: Across the Genres: A Reading.

Featured Headliners:
Kevin Kearney — Fiction
Marco Wilkinson — Nonfiction
Daniela Sow — Poetry

New Voices is our popular biannual event will feature exceptional student writers from the Fall 2024 semester's creative writing courses performing their new and original works of short and flash fiction, novel excerpts, literary nonfiction, poetry, drama, and hybrid works.

Editors and Contributors from Poetry International, SDSU Press, Pacific Review, and Splice will read selections from their latest publications and share insight on their work as editors, creatives, and literary citizens.

For more information on Poetry International, please visit: https://www.poetryinternationalonline.com/

For more information on SDSU Press, please visit: https://sdsupress.sdsu.edu/menu.html

For more information on Pacific Review, please visit: https://pacificreview.sdsu.edu/

For more information on Splice, please visit: https://cal.sdsu.edu/research/undergraduate-journal

FREE to Attend Poetry and spoken word hosted by Ted Washington & Julie Corrales every 4th Thursday of the month with different featured Artists every month.

A poetry reading series at San Diego Civic Center Concourse w/ San Diego Poet Laureate Jason Magabo Perez f/ special guest Ron Salisbury, inaugural San Diego Poet Laureate 2020-2021, & author of Please Write and Tell Me What I Looked Like When You Met Me (2022).

Join multi-hyphenate artist Gill Sotu for the launch and celebration of his debut book of performance and page poetry, Equally Strange, Beautifully Different.

Gill’s first solo collection celebrates our differences while seeking out the things that hold us together. It’s meant to be read out loud, with spirit, and with a goal to touch, challenge, and light up something inside readers. Audience Q&A will follow. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Please scroll down to register. Refreshments served.

About Gill Sotu:

Gill Sotu is a Navy veteran, poet, playwright, DJ, and performing artist.  He is a two-time Grand Slam Poetry Champion, two-time Raw Performing Artist of the Year, and five-time TEDx San Diego presenter. Currently, he is a teaching artist and a commissioned playwright with The Old Globe Theatre & La Jolla Playhouse, and the official Poet in Residence for the San Diego Writer's Festival.  He has over 10 years of experience teaching written and performing arts within the penal system, working directly with incarcerated persons and in recovery settings, as well as with veterans and students from junior high to college. 

General Body Meetings

November 16th, 3-7pm

Poetry and Music.

bearwolf. poet, Dr. Angelica Yanez, Julie Corrales

Elixir Reading and Conversation with Chus Pato / Lectura de Elíxir y Conversación con Chus Pato: SDPA and Conversations with Poets present a special online live video interview with 2024 Spanish National Poetry Prize Winner, Chus Pato. Select readings from the 2023-24 Elixir SDPA, which features one of Chus Pato’s poems, will follow. Join Elixir Editors, Olga García and Michael Klam, as they host this virtual event in Spanish and English. FREE Please register for Zoom link.