Reading Series
The bimonthly Powow River Poets Readings Series, started in 1992, is free and open to the public, and includes an Open Mic. Poetry enthusiasts are urged to attend. Most readings are held on the second Saturday of the month at 2:30 p.m. at the Newburyport Public Library, 94 State Street in Newburyport, Massachusetts and via Zoom. Readings in December through March are on Zoom only. The link to the Zoom reading is distributed to the Friends of Powows email list. One can be added to the list by sending name in an email to powowriverpoetsreadings@gmail.com.
Past readings have featured such eminent poets as former NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, X.J. Kennedy, Alicia Stallings, David Ferry, Robert Shaw, and talented newcomers like Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize recipient Rose Kelleher.
Recent invited poets included New Criterion Award winner Dan Brown, poet and translator Rachel Hadas, magazine editors and award-winning poets David Yezzi and Joseph Bottum. Other Powow readers include Catherine Tufariello, Josh Mehigan, Mimi White, Catherine Chandler, Ernie Hilbert, Rick Mullin, Nick Balbo, Annie Finch, and other fine poets and friends of the formalist tradition.
The Open Mic is limited to ten poets, so come early to the library to sign up. The time limit is one poem up to two minutes. Please time your reading when you rehearse. We look forward to hearing your work.
2025-21 READINGS SCHEDULE
All Powow readings are on Saturday at 2:30 pm ET. They are in-person at the Newburyport Public Library and on Zoom unless stated otherwise in the schedule below. The Powow River Poets invite all interested poets and poetry lovers to email us at powowriverpoetsreadings@gmail.com to request a Zoom link for a scheduled reading or to request that an email address and name to be added to our Friends of Powows email list. Emails are sent out BCC to protect privacy. Friends of Powows receive regular emails promoting and providing Zoom links for upcoming Powow readings.
2024
November 9: Mimi White & Mary Kuck
December 14: Zoom only, Melissa Balmain & Jay Wickersham
2025
January 11: Zoom only, Robert W. Shaw & Deborah Warren
February 8: Zoom only, Caitlin Doyle & Michael Cantor
March 8: Zoom only, Katie Hartsock & Anton Yakovlev
April 26: Newburyport Literary Festival Day of Poetry at the Central Congregational Church + Zoom
May 10: Cristina Cortez & Rhina P. Espaillat & Paulette Demers Turco
June 14: Kirun Kapur & Jose Edmundo Ocampo Reyes
September 13: Alfred Nicol & Jean L. Kreiling
October 11: Bill Coyle & Al Basile
November 8: Jean Dany Joachim
December 13: Zoom only, Holiday Open Mic
PAST FOUR YEARS OF READINGS
2021
January 16: Launch of The Powow River Poets Anthology II: Alexander Pepple, Bruce Bennett, Catherine Chandler, Leslie Monsour, Rachel Hadas
February 20: 100 Year Celebration of Richard Wilbur, with a reading by various Powow Poets and Wilbur family members.
March 20: Community Open Mic
April 24: Newburyport Literary Festival (via Zoom) honors Powow Poet Deborah Warren. Rhina Espaillat interviews Natasha Trethewey. Multiple Powows with new books read at Breakfast with the Poets.
June 19: Community Open Mic
August 2021, IN-PERSON PROGRAMS RESUME at the Newburyport Public Library, also live via Zoom.
August 14: Rhina P. Espaillat & Alfred Nicol
September 11: Bruce Bennett & Paulette Demers Turco
October 9: Community Open Mic
November 13: Chris O’Carroll & Al Basile
December 11: David Davis Memorial Book Swap
2022
January 8: Reading cancelled and will be rescheduled.
February 12: Love, Poetry, and Celebration of Rhina P. Espaillat’s 90th birthday, via Zoom.
March 12: Reading cancelled and will be rescheduled.
April 30: The Annual Newburyport Literary Festival—a full day of poetry via Zoom
May 14: Lewis Turco & Wendy Cannella
June 11: Pedro Poitevin & Anne Mulvey
August 13: Powows Don Kimball & Jean L. Kreiling—New Books
September 10: Zara Raab & José Edmundo Ocampo Reyes
October 8: Rachel Hadas & Andrew Szilvasy
November 12: David Southward & Priscilla Turner Spada
December 3: via Zoom, A Celebration of Jane Kenyon
2023
January 14: via Zoom, Alexander Pepple & M Frost Delaney
February 11: via Zoom, Leslie Monsour & Toni Treadway
March 11: via Zoom, Harris Gardner & Nicholas Friedman
April 29: Newburyport Literary Festival: live at the library + via Zoom, click here for video recording. Find information on featured works here.
May 13: Midge Goldberg, Kyle Potvin, & Deborah Warren—New Books
June 10: Diaspora—Rhina P. Espaillat, Juan Matos, Taty Hernández Durán
August 12: A.M. Juster & Rhina P. Espaillat
September 9: Robert W. Crawford & Bob Moore
September 30: Dana Gioia
October 14: Charles Coe, Marybeth Rua-Larsen, & Owen Grey
November 4: Meredith Bergmann & James Najarian
December 9: via Zoom, All Open Mic
2024 All readings are at 2:30 p.m. ET
January 13: Zoom only, Oliver de la Paz & Joan A.W. Kimball
February 10: Zoom only, José Mármol & Rhina P. Espaillat
March 9: Zoom only, Jan Schreiber & Barbara Lydecker Crane
April 27: Newburyport Literary Festival, link will be provided once established
May 11: Meg Kearney & Daniel Brown
June 8: Richard Hoffman & Bob Whelan
September 14: Danielle LeGros Georges & Zara Raab
October 5: Don Wheelock & Don Kimball
November 9: Mimi White & Mary Kuck
December 14: Zoom only, Melissa Balmain & Jay Wickersham
Contact us for more information on the Powow River Poets.