Tuesday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Tuesday Night Open Mic Series at the Em Tea Coffeecup Café. All are welcome whether be you new to poetry or a long-time member of the community. 80 Oakgrove Ave., Buffalo, NY. Free and open to the public.

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m.: University at Buffalo Poetics Program reading and discussion with Eleni Stecopoulos. Theo Triandos will introduce Stecopoulos and a conversation with Judith Goldman will follow. Eleni Stecopoulos is author of Dreaming in the Fault Zone: A Poetics of Healing (Nightboat 2024), Visceral Poetics (On Contemporary Practice 2016), and Armies of Compassion (Palm Press 2010). Her writing has appeared in Pamenar Magazine, [φρμκ], Best American Experimental Writing, Open Space (SFMOMA), Harvard Review, and many other venues. She has taught at Bard College and University of San Francisco and now works as an independent editor, manuscript consultant, and mentor. From New York, she lives in Northern California. Fitz Books and Waffles, 433 Ellicott St., Buffalo.

Thursday, Oct. 24, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: The University at Buffalo Poetry Collection presents an opening event for a new exhibition The Language of Magic: Queer Occult Poetics. Focusing on the San Francisco Renaissance, a radical poetry and arts community that flourished in the 1950’s and 60’s, and its legacy, the exhibit explores how poets engaged with occult influences to create queer identity. The University at Buffalo Poetry Collection, 420 Capen Hall, UB North Campus.

Friday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: Fitz Books and Waffles presents Chill Session with Aaron Bartley. A passionate advocate for art and activism, Bartley brings a wealth of experience from his work in community development and sustainable housing. His presentation will focus on the powerful intersection of art and social justice, highlighting how creative expression can drive positive change in our communities.
Fitz Books and Waffles, 433 Ellicott St., Buffalo.

Friday, Oct. 25, 5:30 p.m.: Ground and Sky Open Mic Reading Series at Healing Grounds, 220 Grant Street in Buffalo. Free and open to the public.

Friday, Oct. 25, 6 p.m.: Fourth Friday Reading Series at Dog Ears Books. This month’s featured reader is poet Carol Mikoda. 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.

Friday, Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m. University at Buffalo Poetics Program reading Spencer Williams and Zefyr Lisowski. Spencer Williams is the author of TRANZ (Four Way Books 2024). Her work has been featured in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day, Lithub, Apogee, and Pleiades, among others. She is in the Ph.D. program in Poetics at SUNY, Buffalo. Zefyr Lisowski is the author of the forthcoming Uncanny Valley Girls, an essay collection about horror movies, exes, and intimacy (Harper Perennial, 2025). A 2023 NYFA/NYSCA Fellow in Nonfiction and 2023 Queer Art Fellow, she’s also the author of two poetry collections, Girl Work (Noemi Press 2024) and Blood Box (Black Lawrence 2019). Raised in the Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Zefyr lives in Brooklyn and has seen grave robbers twice. Just Buffalo Literary Center, 468 Washington St., 2nd Floor, Buffalo.

Saturday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Blue Bag Press presents Limited Palette #1, an evening of music, text and poetry featuring Tia Brown, Thom Eichelberger-Young, adelaide, and Joe Hall. The reading will also serve as an informal book launch for Eichelberger-Young’s ANTIKYTHERA (Antiphony Press, 2024). Suggested $5 donation for al Qaws, an organization for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society. Rust Belt Books, 415 Grant St., Buffalo.

Sunday, Oct. 27, 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 6:00 p.m.-6:30 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.