Seattle

African-American Writers Alliance

Since 1991, the African-American Writers Alliance (AAWA) has been a diverse and dynamic collective of writers of African descent, organized by Georgia S. McDade, charter member. Everyone is always welcome at all meetings.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/africanamericanwritersalliance

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africanamericanwritersalliance/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzL1B_vULTPh-MGAeXn8DHA

Email: aawaseattle1991@gmail.com

AAWA Writers Read (Hybrid)

Second Sundays 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (does not meet May and August)

Columbia Branch Library

4721 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118

• Join us for a monthly reading series featuring an open mic and selected author readings from local writers

• 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. — Special guest and AAWA members read

• 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. — Open mic—everyone welcome!

• Parking is limited

• See upcoming events at https://www.aawa-seattle.org/event-details/

• To be given the Zoom link, email aawaseattle1991@gmail.com

• To request accommodations for people with disabilities at library events, please contact https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/accessibility/americans-with-disabilities-act/ada-accommodation-request at least seven days before the event

• We have different hosts each month

• Contact Georgia McDade at gsmcdade@msn.com

AAWA Open Mic — Third Place Books Seward Park

Second Thursdays 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. (does not meet in December)

Third Place Books Seward Park

5041 Wilson Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118

• Open mic; members read first

• Contact  Georgia McDade, emcee, at gsmcdade@msn.com

AAWA at SouthEast Seattle Senior Center

Third Wednesdays 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

SouthEast Seattle Senior Center

4655 S Holly St, Seattle, WA 98118

• Contact Minnie Collins, liaison and emcee

Castalia Reading Series

Fourth Tuesdays 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (November; January–May)

The Pine Box

1600 Melrose Ave SE, Seattle, WA 98122

• Join us for an evening of poems and prose

• Ages 21+

• Featured readings by writers associated with the University of Washington Seattle Creative Writing Program

• Hosted by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Washington, Seattle

• Contact Peter Munro at munro.poetry@gmail.com

• Visit https://www.pineboxbar.com/

Easy Speak Seattle

Second and fourth Mondays 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Wedgwood Broiler

8230 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115

(in banquet room)

• Poem, prose, or song—our microphone opens wide for you

• We love the human voice and we want to hear yours

• Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

• Show starts at 7:00 p.m.

• Second Mondays: open mic (five minutes)

• Fourth Mondays: one 15-minute featured reader plus open-mic reading

• Contact T. Clear, curating committee member, at rsvp.easyspeak@gmail.com

• Visit https://easyspeakseattle.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/EasySpeakSeattle

It’s About Time Writers Reading Series 

Second Thursdays 6:00 – 7:45 p.m.

Ballard Branch of Seattle Public Library

5614 22nd Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

• We alternate between in-person and virtual meetings; please check our Facebook page or the Seattle Public Library website to confirm the meeting type

• Writer’s craft talk plus three featured readers (15 minutes each) interspersed by open-mic readers (three minutes each) who sign up that night

• Seattle’s longest-running prose and poetry reading series, started in 1990 by Esther Helfgott

• Through readings, newsletters, and “The Writers’ Craft” lectures, the series has provided inspiration, community, and a place to present work to a generation of Seattle and Washington state poets and writers

• Visit the It’s About Time Writers’ Reading Series YouTube channel

• For information on how to register for Zoom readings, contact Peggy Sturdivant, curator, at peggysturdivant@gmail.com (you can register for multiple months and will then receive a reminder link the day before the event)

• Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/42115871335/ for event listings that are updated monthly

Margin Shift: Friends in Poetry

Meets quarterly and on an ad hoc basis at various venues across the homeland of the Duwamish and Coast Salish people (Seattle, Washington)

• This hybrid language-arts collective curates featured reader and book releases. We’re constantly shifting. Our main goal is inclusion and equity, celebrating the many diverse voices often overlooked in our region. We prioritize and seek out a strong intergenerational mix of national and local, as well as established and emerging, BIPOC, LGBTQI, nonbinary, differently-abled, aneuro-typical, undocumented, and experimental artists and writers. As our name says, we’re always changing, always shifting, always trying something different.

• Let’s connect: We’re always looking for “friends in poetry”—guest curators, coconspirators, writers we’ve never heard of, get-the-word-outers, media mavens, and moguls and experimental networkers, revolutionaries. If you’ve got a gift you want to contribute, or if you know someone gifted you want to us to partner with, please reach out.

• Contact Deborah Woodard and Matt Trease, curators, at marginshiftseattle@gmail.com

• Visit https://www.marginshift.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/MarginShift/

Open Mic at Bulldog

Third Saturdays 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Bulldog News & Cafe

4208 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105

• Performances include guitar, singing, stand-up comedy, improv, poetry, rap, and more

• If you need time to tune your instrument or to mic test please come at 4:30 p.m.

• All ages welcome for this free event

• Intimate venue attracts a supportive audience for amateur creatives, often for their public debut

• Come to Bulldog to join the community, enjoy a drink, share a pastry, and show off your talent!

• Events are live-streamed

• Contact Molly Crocker, Bulldog News events, at molly@bulldognews.com or events@bulldognews.com

• Sign up in advance at https://www.bulldognews.com/sign-up

Open Mic Night

Every Wednesday 8:00 – 11:00 p.m.

Hopvine Pub

507 15th Ave East, Seattle, WA 98112

• Support your local artists at our legendary open mic. Our supportive vibe gives way to an amazing, eclectic group of local artists and encouraging attendees. All acts are welcome!

• To sign up: After 7:00 p.m. head to the bar (drink/food order line) so the bartender can check your ID and get you a drink. You’ll get a numbered token and at 7:45 p,m, our host will pull numbers for the performance order. No need to line up early to get a spot since spots are randomly assigned. We are excited to see everyone find their seat and mingle before performances start instead of spending time waiting to sign up.

• Open mic is eight minutes per performer

• Contact Justin B., host, at justinmzb@gmail.com

• Visit https://hopvinepub.com/

Open Mic Night at Inside 

Second Saturdays 7:30 – 11:30 p.m.

Inside

1313 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

• Doors open at 7:30 p.m. (sign up to perform)

• Open mic at 8:15 p.m.

• Open to poets, singers, storytellers, musicians, dancers, comedians

• $5 in advance, $7 at the door

• Ages 21 and up

• Alcohol served (buy drink tickets at the door)

• Deaunte Damper, host

• Contact Sierra Jones at hello@aspaceinside.com

• Visit  https://aspaceinside.com/pages/event-calendar

Poetry & Spoken Word Open Mic Night

Last Fridays 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Inside

1313 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

• Doors open 7:00 p.m. (sign up to read)

• Readings start at 7:30 p.m. (five minutes each)

• $5 in advance; $7 at the door

• Ages 21 and up

• Alcohol served (buy drink tickets at the door)

• Darryl Foto, host

• Contact Sierra Jones at hello@aspaceinside.com

• Visit  https://aspaceinside.com/pages/event-calendar

PoetryBridge Association of West Seattle

Second Wednesdays 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (except in the summer)

Second Wednesdays 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. (on Zoom, June, July, and August)

C&P Coffee Company

5612 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98136

• We are a community of poets, storytellers, and fans of the spoken word

• Our mission is to promote the best of poetry and storytelling in West Seattle and beyond

• Three featured readers followed by five-minute community mic readings

• Sign in at 6:45 p.m. (4:45 p.m. for summer Zoom sessions)

• All ages welcome

• In person and live-streamed on YouTube (except Summer Zoom sessions)

• Live-stream links sent out on our email list and on our Facebook page

• Summer Zoom links sent out on our email list and on our Facebook page the morning of the meeting

• Contact Leopoldo Seguel, host, at infopoetrybridge@gmail.com

• Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/202391486908642/

Poetry in the Park by the Pond

Starting on the first Thursday in April and then on alternating Thursdays 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. through September

Meadowbrook Pond

NE 105th St and 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98146

(meet at the sound reflector)

• Directions: Meadowbrook Pond is located on 35th Ave NE across from the Meadowbrook Community Center. Enter the park at the flashing crosswalk. Follow the circling path over the little bridge and to your right and then your left, then go left at the fork, and then you will see the main gazebo or covered shelter and the half-moon reflecting wall to your right.

• Rain: no show / Sunny: please come

• Relaxed and casual outdoor open-mic poetry reading

• Consider bringing a seating pad or folding chair

• Parks and Rec sometimes provides three or four chairs

• Sponsored by Seattle Parks & Recreation and the Meadowbrook Community Council

• Contact Raul Sanchez at lafamiliasanchez@comcast.net

Group photo taken May 2, 2024

Group photo taken June 13, 2024

Poetry Potluck 

Third Wednesdays 6:30 – 7:45 p.m.

Ballard Branch of Seattle Public Library

5614 22nd Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

• Join us in our meeting room for an informal gathering to listen to and read poetry aloud

• Select two or three poems, whether classics or new discoveries, and plan to share them aloud

• We take turns reading one poem at a time, going around the table, which means that everyone reads about the same amount

• We emphasize other people’s poetry, not our own

• We are interested in exploring the wide world of poems—across the world and through time

• For sharing your own poetry, we suggest the “It’s About Time Writers Reading Series,” our sister program at the same location

• Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with free parking under the building

• Contact Lynn Miller, host, at lynn.miller@spl.org

Pop-Up Poetry Seattle

Meets monthly on various days 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Meets at various locations

Seattle, WA

• A monthly pop-up poetry slam competition with cash prizes of $200 for first place, $100 for second place, and $50 for third place

• Admission fee of $15 in advance or $17 at the door  

• Poets must have three original poems prepared

• We have a three-minute time limit with a ten-second grace period, but after that, judges will begin to deduct points

• Contact Ebo Barton, host, at hello@popuppoetryseattle.com

• Visit http:www.popuppoetryseattle.com/ for time and date

Spoken Word Open Mic Night

First and third Thursdays 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Nook & Cranny Books

324 15th Ave E #101, Seattle, WA 98112

• Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

• On first Thursdays readings are from 6:45 to 9:00 p.m.

• On third Thursdays we have free writing time where you can be inspired by the theme or whatever you wish ; if you want to skip the writing time you can show up at 7:30 p.m. when our open mic begins

• Optional theme provided for each reading on both nights

• Kristen Yaney, host

• Contact Maren Comendant at shopnookandcrannybooks@gmail.com

• To sign up (reading slots are limited) and to learn the theme for each reading, visit https://www.nookandcrannybooks.com/spoken-word-open-mic

Unpoetry 

Last Thursday of the month  8:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Casa del Xolo

3418 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

• Ages 21+

• A curated reading and performance series

• Unpoetry occasionally has pop-up readings on different days at various locations

• Everyone gets relatively the same time, 5 to 10 minutes

• Musicians/performers tend to get a little more time

• Writers/artists in attendance can let curator Eric Acosta know that they’d like to eventually be on the lineup, or they can message him electronically

• Lineups are usually made a month or two ahead of time

• Contact Eric Acosta, curator of unreadings, at printcopiesavailable@gmail.com

• Visit https://www.unpoetry.net/ for more information and to sign up for the newsletter

Works in Progress

Readings held on various dates, in person and online

Works in Progress is Hugo House’s semi-monthly open-mic series inclusive of diverse formats and storytelling crafts. Read your work—poetry, fiction, essays, memoirs, plays, music, comedy, and more—and connect with your literary community. Readings open to all. You don’t have to read—guests and audience members are encouraged to attend.

• Contact Caitlin Andrews, host, at caitlin@hugohouse.org

• Visit https://hugohouse.org/community-programs/open-mic-works-in-progress/ for overview information

• Visit https://hugohouse.org/programs-events/?search=works%20in%20progress to find specific event details, select the event title, and then select Get Tickets (free)

Works in Progress (virtual)

Visit website (above) for date and Zoom access; 7:00–9:00 p.m.

Zoom link opens at 6:45 p.m.

Sign-up is on a first-come basis and begins at check-in

Works in Progress (in person)

Third Tuesdays; 6:00–9:00 p.m.

Hugo House 

1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

Doors open/sign-in begins at 6:00 p.m. 

Open mic begins at 7:00 p.m.

The order for the 20 reading slots is randomly assigned with readers notified of their slot before readings begin (each reader has five minutes to read)