Allegra Hyde visits Buffalo for a UB Exhibition X Series Fiction reading at Hallwalls. Plus three other events on Thursday, Feb. 26.

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. to 8:45 pm: Burning Books presents its monthly heARTBurn Civic Arts meet-up, curated and hosted by poet, teaching artist, and activist Robin Jordan.

Location: Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St., Buffalo, NY. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.: Poetry reading by Irene Sipos and Lawrence Desautels. Turning Point Tavern, 1797 Niagara St. Buffalo, New York 14207. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.: Winter Writer’s Night at Lock City Books, 8 Market St. in Lockport, NY. Among the featured authors participating are Andrew Galarneau, Narcissa Netal, Fran Parrish, Sinead Tyrone, Aly Welch, and Mike X. Welch. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Kevin Thurston will be the featured reader at the next Kenmore Village Improvement Society Open Mic Night curated and hosted by BlazeVOX Books publisher Geoffrey Gatza at the KVIS/Made for Good Shop, 7 Warren Avenue (near Delaware Ave.) in Kenmore, NY. Additional reading slots are available. The event is free and open to the public.

Kevin Thurston is a Buffalo-based writer, conceptual artist, performer, and longtime presence in the Western New York literary scene. Kevin was (with Chris Fritton) the co-founder and co-organizer of the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair from 2006 to 2016. His collaborative book Color Me White (with the late artist and illustrator Mickey Harmon) is known for its witty and provocative engagement with identity and culture. Deeply involved in community and creative exchange, Kevin brings curiosity, humor, and rigor to everything he shares.

Thursday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m.: University at Buffalo Exhibit X Fiction Series reading by writer Allegra Hyde. Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center Cinema, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. Free and open to the public.

Allegra Hyde is the author of the speculative story collection THE LAST CATASTROPHE, an Editors’ Choice selection for The New York Times and a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award. Her debut novel ELEUTHERIA was named a “Best Book of 2022” by The New Yorker, shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize, and featured on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Her first story collection, OF THIS NEW WORLD, won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award.​

Hyde has received four Pushcart Prizes and an O. Henry Prize. Her work has also been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Travel Writing, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. Her fiction, nonfiction, and humor writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, American Short Fiction, BOMB, and many other venues.

Hyde has received fellowships and grants from the MacDowell Artist Residency, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, The Elizabeth George Foundation, the Lucas Artist Residency Program, the Jentel Foundation, The Studios at Key West, VCCA, the U.S. Fulbright Commission, and elsewhere.​

She currently teaches creative writing at Smith College.

Friday, Feb.27, 6 p.m.: Fourth Friday Reading Series at Dog Ears Books. This month’s featured reader is poet Maggie Batt. Additional reading slots available. Dog Ears Bookstore and Cafe, 688 Abbott Road, 2nd floor, in Buffalo. Admission to the event is $5. Proceeds benefit the Dog Ears Bookstore, a 501 c (3) not-for-profit organization.