Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Tuesday Night Open Mic Series at the Em Tea Coffeecup Café hosted by Verneice Turner. 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, Sept. 17, 7 p.m.: Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center and Talking Leaves Books present a book launch event for Mark Jacobs recently released novel Silent Light (Evergreen Review Books, 2024).

Born in Niagara Falls, NY, Mark Jacobs spent fifteen years living and working in countries outside the United States. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, where he spent two years in Potrero Yapepó, a remote village in the south of the country. As a Foreign Service officer, he served in Europe, Turkey, and Latin America. He currently lives in rural Virginia, on 32 acres of what used to be a farm, where he writes full time.

Jacobs has published more than 200 stories in magazines including The Atlantic, Playboy, The Baffler, The Kenyon Review, and The Southern Review. His story “How Birds Communicate” won The Iowa Review fiction prize. His story “Dream State” won the Dr. T.J. Eckleburg Kafka Prize. His five books include A Handful of Kings, published by Simon and Shuster, and Stone Cowboy, by Soho Press, which won the Maria Thomas Award. Jacobs holds a doctorate from Drew University, a masters from the School for International Training, and a bachelors degree from Alma College. He speaks Spanish, Turkish, and Guaraní. ​

Hallwalls Cinema, 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. Free and open to the public.

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 9 p.m.: Poetry Night at Caffe Aroma, biweekly open mic reading series hosted by Ben Brindise and Justin Karcher. 957 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m.: Buffalo Corner Reading Series featuring poets Celeste Lawson and Jonathan Cohen. 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, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.: The 2024 Buffalo Humanities Festival presents “An Evening with Percival Everett,” acclaimed author of James, and 23 other novels. Everett’s keynote talk will be followed by discussion and question and answer session moderated by Nicole M. Morris Johnson (Dept. of English, University at Buffalo) and a post-talk book signing by Everett with copies of his novels available for purchase by Talking Leaves Books.

With the release of his 24th novel, James, a retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from enslaved Jim’s perspective, Everett adds to an impressive list of titles. His most recent books include Dr. No (winner of the 2023 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and finalist for the NBCC Award for Fiction), The Trees (finalist for the Booker Prize and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award), Telephone (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), So Much Blue, and I Am Not Sidney Poitier. Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure was adapted into the Oscar Award-winning (Best Adapted Screenplay) film “American Fiction” (2023). He has also written acclaimed short story and poetry collections.

Asbury Hall at Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required to attend. Visit https://buffalohumanities.org/2024-hauntings/hauntings-friday-sept-20/ to get your digital ticket to attend.

Saturday, Sept. 21, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The 2024 Buffalo Humanities Festival presents
“Hauntings – Festival Day” at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Central Branch, 1 Lafayette Square in Buffalo. Free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Visit https://buffalohumanities.org/2024-hauntings/hauntings-saturday-sept-21/ to get your digital pass to attend.

Schedule of talks, readings, and conversations is as follows:

9:30 A.M. | WELCOME – RING OF KNOWLEDGE (1ST FLOOR)
Elizabeth Otto, Director, Humanities Institute, University at Buffalo
Susan Buttaccio, Manager of Special Collections/Grosvenor Room, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

9:45 A.M. | SESSION 1
SEVEN GENERATIONS OF VOICES [RING OF KNOWLEDGE | TALK]
Eric Gansworth, Lowery Writer-in-Residence and Professor, Dept. of English, Canisius University

11:00 A.M. | BREAK
Reading from Buffalo Noir [2nd Floor Hall | Readings]
“The Bubble Man of Allentown” by Dimitri Anastasopoulos

11:15 A.M. | SESSION 2
HAUNTED FRONTIERS: GUNS, THEATRE, AND THE AMERICAN WEST [2ND FLOOR GALLERY CONFERENCE ROOM | TALK]
Meredith Conti, Associate Professor, Dept. of Theatre and Dance, University at Buffalo

MARK TWAIN’S HAUNTS AROUND WESTERN NEW YORK [2ND FLOOR CENTRAL MEETING ROOM | TALK]
Tom Reigstad, Emeritus Professor, Dept. of English, Buffalo State University

12:30 P.M. | LUNCH
Complimentary light lunch fare provided [2nd Floor Hall – North End]
Just Buffalo Writing Center Young Writers Showcase [2nd Floor Hall – South End | Readings]
Zelda Abramovich • Rosemary Bodine • Nzigire Buhendwa • Wan’ye Rhodes-Carter • Mila Tunkey

1:15 P.M. | SESSION 3
“JANE” CROW TRAVEL: A HAUNTING HISTORY OF BLACK WOMEN AND THE AMERICAN RAILROAD [RING OF KNOWLEDGE | TALK]
Miriam Thaggert, Professor, Dept. of English, University at Buffalo

DEATH’S DOORSTEP: THE GOTHIC AND THE HEALTH HUMANITIES [2ND FLOOR GALLERY CONFERENCE ROOM | TALK]
Laura Kremmel, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Niagara University

HAUNTINGS OF JEWISH IDENTIFICATION IN ARTHUR MILLER’S BROKEN GLASS AND THE PRICE [2ND FLOOR CENTRAL MEETING ROOM | PANEL]
Mark Hodin, Professor, Dept. of English, Canisius University
Fortunato Pezzimenti, Director of “The Price,” Irish Classical Theatre Company
Moderated by Lindsay Brandon Hunter, Associate Professor, Dept. of Theatre and Dance, University at Buffalo

2:30 P.M. | BREAK
Reading from Buffalo Noir [2nd Floor Hall | Readings]
“Hand” by Kim Chinquee

2:45 P.M. | SESSION 4
HAUNTING SMELLS: AROMATICS AND THE OLFACTORY CULTURE OF MEDIEVAL CHINA [2ND FLOOR GALLERY CONFERENCE ROOM | TALK]
Yan Liu, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, University at Buffalo

REMARKING HISTORY: GO-WON-GO MOHAWK & VAUDEVILLE VALIANCY | A BUFFALO NIAGARA LGBTQ HISTORY PROJECT [2ND FLOOR CENTRAL MEETING ROOM | PANEL]
Maria Arango, Researcher, Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project

4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M. | CLOSING RECEPTION

Big Ditch Brewing Company, 55 E. Huron St., Buffalo, NY 14203.

Sunday, Sept. 7 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 7:00 p.m.-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 www.pureinkpoetry.com for more information. Lorna C. Hill Theater, (Home of Ujima Theater Company, Inc.), 429 Plymouth Ave Suite #2, Buffalo, NY.