Monday, Nov. 18, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.: The Woven Event: A collaboration by three local poetry workshops: Recovery Stories (Samuel Floyd), Ben Brindise Workshops, and Ground and Sky Poetry Series (Joel Lesses). 907 Michigan Ave, Buffalo, NY

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 6 p.m.: Book talk and performance featuring Coulter Harper and Curtis Lovell. Fitz Books celebrates the book launch of Jazz in the Hill: Nightlife and Narratives of a Pittsburgh Neighborhood (University Press of Mississippi, 2024) by University at Buffalo Department of Music Assist Professor Colter Harper. After the book talk, Harper will join Buffalo jazz vocalist extraordinaire Curtis Lovell for an exclusive performance. Fitz Books & Waffles, 433 Ellicott St., Buffalo.

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m.: The Screening Room Reading Series hosted by poet Sandy Geary. Featured reader is poet Ida Goeckel. Open mic reading slots available. The Screening Room Cinema Café, 880 Alberta  Drive, Amherst. $3. 

Thursday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.: Buffalo Corner Reading Series featuring poets Donna Grace and George Grace. This will be a hybrid event: in person, and simulcast via Zoom. Congregation Shir Shalom, 4660 Sheridan Drive in Amherst. Visit shirshalombuffalo.org for more information and the Zoom link to this free event.

Friday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m.: Just Buffalo Literary Center presents poet Ariel Yelen, writer and translator Laura Marris, and musician Whitetails (aka Jonathan Bobowicz) at Just Buffalo Literary Center, 468 Washington St., 2nd Floor in Buffalo. The event is free and open to the public.

About the artists:

Ariel Yelen is the author of I Was Working (Princeton University Press, 2024), selected by Rowan Ricardo Phillips for the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets. She received a 2023-2024 Creative & Performing Arts Fulbright to Greece, as well as fellowships / grants from Fine Arts Work Center, Vermont Studio Center, The Yiddish Book Center, Art Farm & Arte Studio Ginestrelle. She’s taught poetry and interdisciplinary courses for Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers New Brunswick, The Loft Literary Center, & Mana Contemporary. As a former editor for the NYC-based publishing collaborative Futurepoem Books, she founded their digital space futurefeed. She studied sculpture & video at SUNY Purchase & poetry at Rutgers-Newark. She lives and works in New York City.

Laura Marris is a writer and translator. Her writing has appeared in The Believer, The Yale Review, The Paris Review Daily, The Common, The TLS, The New York Times, Words Without Borders, and elsewhere. Her work has been supported by fellowships from MacDowell, a Katharine Bakeless Fellowship from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and a grant from the Robert B. Silvers Foundation. Her first solo-authored book, The Age of Loneliness, was published in August 2024 by Graywolf Press.

Driven by the soul-rending words and music of Jonathan Bobowicz, Whitetails weaves groovy storytelling with sonic, moving melody. Bobowicz is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has gigged in bands (Chylde, White Bison, Black Canyon Lights) for more than 20 years including features on stages at South-by-Southwest to the working class beer halls of Buffalo, NY.

Sunday, Nov. 24, 6 p.m.: Pure Ink Poetry Slam, a monthly, two-round spoken word and poetry slam competition series hosted by Brandon Williamson. Pure Ink Poetry Slam is always an open slam without specific themes or requirements other than the general rules of slam. Sign up is from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Open mic and slam starts at 6:30. $5 for slammers, $10 for spectators. Cash prize for the winner. Visit the website http://www.pureinkpoetry.com for more information. Lorna C. Hill Theater, (Home of Ujima Theater Company, Inc.), 429 Plymouth Ave Suite #2, Buffalo, NY.