A busy week in the Buffalo literary community concludes with a launch party for grace (ge) gilbert’s hybrid poetry, memoir, and collage art book HOLLY Saturday night at Fitz Books.

Tuesday, July 21, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.: Just Buffalo Literary Center presents Teachers ARE Writers: Nurture your Writing Voice with teaching artist Kara Pranikoff. Just Buffalo Literary Center, 468 Washington Street, 2nd Floor, Buffalo, NY 14203.

Join us as we settle into the summer weeks and cultivate our writing practice. Across five weeks we will explore the interplay between reading and writing, tune into our powers of observation, and practice the craft moves that make writing come alive. This class is just right for anyone who wants to slow down, build a supportive community, and open up to the writer inside them.

This workshop is FREE and aimed at teachers, and will run on Tuesdays, 5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m. on July 21 / July 28 / August 4 / August 11 and Monday, August 17

BPS teachers can register on PGS. Non-BPS teachers can register by emailing Molly Eldridge at meldridge@buffaloschools.org.

About the teaching artist:

Kara Pranikoff spent more than two decades in NYC schools before moving back home to Buffalo. She has worked as a classroom teacher; reading interventionist; instructional coach; curriculum designer; and an adjunct instructor at Bank Street College of Education. As a consultant and coach she nurtures educators in developing inquiry based practices in social studies and writing that develop independent student thinking, voice and a sense of belonging for all members of the community. Kara’s book, Teaching Talk: A Practical Guide to Fostering Student Thinking and Conversation (Heinemann, 2017) shares ways to foster productive and independent student discussions in elementary and middle school.

Thursday, July 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Just Buffalo Literary Center presents Collage + Poetry: A Workshop Taught by Teaching Artist Margaret Saigh and visiting author Grace (Ge) Gilbert. Just Buffalo Literary Center, 468 Washington Street, 2nd Floor, Buffalo, NY 14203.

In the 20th and 21st century collaging has been an integral part of the poet’s creative process. In this class we will practice collage as a poetic form and explore the intersections between words and images, drawing on works by poets such as Diana Khoi Nguyen, Anne Carson, and John Ashbery. Collage materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own.

About the Teaching Artists:

Margaret Saigh is the author of the chapbook I’ve created a thing that will never bring me pleasure (Pitymilk Press, 2025) as well as two other chapbooks. She is the creator of circlet, a poetry workshop and reading series. Her writing has been published widely in print and across the web. She received an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Grace (GE) Gilbert (they/them) is a poet, writer and collage artist from rural upstate New York. They are the author of Holly (YesYes Books, 2026) and three chapbooks. Work can be found in Best of the Net Anthology 2023, Iowa Review, Pleiades, Foglifter, Indiana Review, Ninth Letter, Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. They received their MFA in poetry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022, where they now teach. They also teach hybrid collage and poetics courses at Brooklyn Poets, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and other institutions. Learn more at gracegegilbert.com.

Thursday, June 25, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Kenmore Village Improvement Society/Made for Good Open Mic Poetry Night hosted by Geoffrey Gatza and featuring poet Nava Fader. Kenmore Village Improvement Society/ Made for Good Shop. Address: 7 Warren Ave. Kenmore, NY 14217.

An evening of poetry, community, and conversation at KVIS / Made for Good Shop in Kenmore. This month’s audience-chosen optional theme is “America, the 250th Anniversary.” Whether your work explores history, place, memory, hope, protest, or simply what America means to you, we’d love to hear it. Bring a poem or simply come to listen. All are welcome. We’d love to spend the evening with you.

About the Featured Poet:

Nava Fader, one of Buffalo’s most original poetic voices. Nava creates poems from found language, conversations, Wikipedia, and the words of poets she loves, crafting work that is inventive, surprising, witty, and deeply engaging. She is the author of All the Jawing Jackdaw and Hitching Post, along with several chapbooks, and received her Master’s in Poetics from SUNY at Buffalo.

Saturday, July 25, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Join BlazeVOX [books] for an evening of innovative poetry featuring three outstanding writers. BlazeVOX will celebrate two new BlazeVOX titles: The Killing Joke by Magus Magnus and Blue Driftwood Fire by Anne-Adele Wight. Joining them will be acclaimed poet Debrah Morkun, author of Projection Machine and The Ida Pingala. Brighton Place Library, 999 Brighton Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150.

From Magus Magnus’s expansive meditation on humor, art, and political anxiety, to Anne-Adele Wight’s luminous explorations of memory and transformation, to Debrah Morkun’s visionary and linguistically adventurous poetry, this promises to be a memorable evening of contemporary writing. The reading is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase and signing.Please come celebrate poetry with BlazeVOX [books] and help support these wonderful writers.

Saturday, July 25, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: HOLLY: An Evening of Poetry to celebrate the launch of the book tour for (GE) Gilbert’s HOLLY (YesYes Books, 2026). Joining Gilbert will be Buffalo-based poets Margaret Saigh, Jazz DeNero, and Chloe Forsell. Fitz Books & Waffles, 1462 Main St., Buffalo. Free and open to the public.

About the book:

Grace (ge) Gilbert’s Holly merges poetry, memoir, and visual art in an effort to recreate the author’s grandmother, who was murdered in her home in 1976, and to make sense of their ensuing relationship with their father, who found his mother’s body when he was eleven years old. Having never been told explicitly by their parents about her murder, gilbert pieces together her grandmother’s story through fragment, ephemera, history, and the imaginary, looking past the spectacle of the murdered woman and into the things that come, like ripples, after.

About the Author:

Grace (GE) Gilbert (they/them) is a poet, writer and collage artist from rural upstate New York. They are the author of Holly (YesYes Books, 2026) and three chapbooks. Work can be found in Best of the Net Anthology 2023, Iowa Review, Pleiades, Foglifter, Indiana Review, Ninth Letter, Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. They received their MFA in poetry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022, where they now teach. They also teach hybrid collage and poetics courses at Brooklyn Poets, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and other institutions. Learn more at gracegegilbert.com.