J.B. Stone at the Springville Center for the Arts, Mystery Night at Congregation Shir Shalom, and There’s Things (an exhibition for / about / around Robert Creeley) at Black Rock Arts are happening this week.

Wednesday, May 13, 6 p.m.: Just Buffalo Literary Center and the Western New York Book Arts Center present an In Gratitude Journal Making Workshop, part of the city-wide In Gratitude project.



Learn about the art of bookbinding and work with a Book Arts teaching artist to up-cycle make-ready prints and other hand-printed ephemera into a dedicated Gratitude Journal, crafted by hand. No prior bookmaking experience necessary.

468 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY 14203



Wednesday, May 13, 6 p.m to 8 p.m.: POETRY & PERFORMANCE CLASS with poet and teaching artist J.B. Stone.

The evening will start out with poetics as a lecture, featuring some of J.B. Stone’s finest poems both for the stage and page, followed by a series of writing prompts that will give audience members a chance to generate their own work.



About the Teaching Artist:



J.B. Stone is a neurodivergent/autistic spoken word poet, writer, editor, playwright, and critic from Brooklyn, NY now living in Buffalo, NY. They are the author of three chapbooks, including their most recent work, Fireflies And Hand Grenades (Bottlecap Press 2022).

Stone is the Editor-In-Chief/Reviews Editor at Variety Pack and also reads for Uncharted Magazine & Split Lip Magazine. Nominated for Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net, their work has appeared or is forthcoming in over 60 print and online publications.

Stone has showcased and performed his poetry all over U.S. & Canada. In November of 2023, Stone performed this poem inspired by Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” as part of the Whitman on Walls! exhibition at the Burchfield Penney Art Center sponsored by the Calamus Project and the Ujima Theatre Company.



Art’s Café, Springville Center for the Arts, 5 East Main Street, Springville, New York 14141.



Thursday, May 14, 7 p.m.: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: The Buffalo Corner Reading Series presents its annual Mystery Night reading and discussion guest hosted by novelist Gary Earl Ross (Nickle City/Gideon Rimes Series) and featuring fiction writers Terez Peipens (The Dan Kiraly Series), Lissa Marie Redmond (The Cold Case Series), historical fiction writer Stephen Eoannou ( author of After Pearl, Yesteryear, and Rook), and Catherine D’Agostino (author of Tangled Vines, and Braided Lies: A Thousand Islands Castle Mystery).



A cheese and wine reception will follow.



Congregation Shir Shalom, 4660 Sheridan Drive, Amherst.



Friday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Black Rock Arts presents the opening of There’s Things (an exhibition for / about / around Robert Creeley), opening with a reception beginning at 5 p.m. in the gallery at 43 Hamilton Street, Buffalo 14207

Through works of homage, interpretation and remembrance, There’s Things pays tribute to one of our most important and influential poets on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The exhibition includes contributions from over a dozen artists, several of whom worked in direct response to Creeley’s writing and biography to create new works especially for There’s Things.

Participating artists include Gardner Astalos, Anthony Bannon, Zi Daniel, Chris Fritton, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, Alexa Kanarowski, Liv Long, T. Mitchell, Denny Moers, Richard Seehausen, Trudy Stern & Michael Morgulis, Tyrone Williams & Mirabo Press and Buffalo Correspondance School.

Additionally, a free screening of Creeley-related films will be presented in the gallery on Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m. The program will feature Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian’s documentary CREELEY and select experimental films from artists of Creeley’s “company.”

There’s Things is part of a Buffalo-wide celebration of Creeley’s life and work already underway. Featured programs include:

Echo[es]: traces in a grid, an exhibition of visual poetry and typewriter art generated through a series of talks and workshops organized by UB Art Galleries and led by poet and artist Diego Espíritu.

Onward! A Centennial Celebration of Robert Creeley, an exhibition of rare books, broadsides and ephemera at UB Poetry Collection.

Robert Creeley: Active Complement, an exhibition at UB CFA Galleries exploring Creeley’s varied approaches to collaborative art making.

Community Creeley Reading Group, hosted by UB Poetics Program & Just Buffalo Literary Center at Fitz Books.

Creeley Listening Station, a program of Creeley audio recordings curated by Dr. Chris Mustazza, Co-Director of the PennSound Archive.

All I ever wanted was a place: A Centennial Celebration of Robert Creeley, opening May 21 at Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

A Buffalo Remembrance of Robert Creeley, Just Buffalo’s community remembrance project inviting members of the public to share memories and tributes about Creeley.

For Love: A Centenary Symposium for Robert Creeley, organized by UB Poetics Department, kicking off on May 21 (Creeley’s birthday) at the Burchfield Penney and continuing the following day at UB Anderson Gallery. Among the activities planned are a panel on contemporary Creeley studies, a roundtable with Creeley’s former colleagues and students, exhibition talks and walk-throughs, a film program curated by Black Rock Arts, and a community reading co-organized with Just Buffalo to share favorite Creeley poems and personal reminiscences.