Literary Events Around Indiana
December 2021
Updated 12/13
There are many great literary events around Indiana – December 2021. Looking for something to do? Below are just a few ideas.
Many events are virtual. Please confirm with the venue for scheduled events listed in Literary Events Around Indiana – December 2021.
To be featured in our “Literary Events Around Indiana” monthly events blog, email the details to mail@indianawriters.org.
Sunday, January 2, 2022, 5:00-6:30 PM EST on Zoom
Two prominent playwrights share tips on how to organize your yearly schedule around submissions to playwriting contests and festivals.
Please join us! This event is free and open to the public (but you must register)
Click here for more information and to register
Let your friends know you’re going–better yet, send them an invite via the Facebook event page!
Find out more about the Indiana Playwrights Circle!
VOCAB presents a Poetry Slam
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
8:00 PM 10:00 PM
The White Rabbit Cabaret
1116 Prospect St Indianapolis, IN, 46203
An Evening with Hanif Abdurraqib
New York Times best-selling poet, essayist, and cultural critic
Thursday, December 2, 2021, 7:30 PM
Shelton Auditorium
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His first full length poetry collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, was released in June 2016 from Button Poetry. It was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Prize, and was nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.
His first collection of essays, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was released in winter 2017 by Two Dollar Radio and was named a book of the year by Buzzfeed, Esquire, NPR, Oprah Magazine, Paste, CBC, The Los Angeles Review, Pitchfork, and The Chicago Tribune, among others. He released Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest with University of Texas press in February 2019. The book became a New York Times Bestseller, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. His second collection of poems, A Fortune For Your Disaster, was released in 2019 by Tin House, and won the 2020 Lenore Marshall Prize. In 2021, he released the book A Little Devil In America with Random House, in which he chronicles Black performances over specific moments in time and how they have woven through the years into American culture.
Hanif is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.
Join Sisters in Crime (and brothers) and make some progress on your latest writing project the first Friday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Run through some writing sprints! Register for November’s First Friday Write-In
Non-stalgia Anthology Book Release Party
Friday, Dec 3 7:00 PM — Sunday Dec 4 9:00 PM EST
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library
Enjoy readings by several of our contributing writers, pick up your copy of the book, and tour the fantastic Kurt Vonnegut Library & Museum. The bar will offer Upland beverages for purchase for those 21+.
The event is free to attend and all ages. Space is limited, so please ask any friends/family attending to RSVP through Eventbrite.
Read more about the anthology at www.nonstalgiafiction.com.
Indiana Historical Society Presents: Holiday Author Fair
Saturday, Dec 4, 12:00 – 4:00 PM EST
Indiana Historical Society
View the list of authors and to reserve your tickets
This event will take place Saturday, Dec. 4, and admission to the author fair is included with general admission to the Indiana Historical Society.
Author Fair book topics will range from sports and biographies to youth historical fiction and politics along with, of course, a lot of Indiana history. This year’s event features a scheduled appearance by two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Al Unser Jr., who’ll be promoting his book, Al Unser Jr.: A Checkered Past, as told to author Jade Gurss.
IHS members will receive 10 percent off their entire Basile History Market purchase. Those who purchase a book will receive a coupon for IHS’s History Market, which features handmade Indiana products, art and ornaments for unique holiday gifts.
Guests are encouraged to purchase their admission tickets in advance in case capacity restrictions become necessary. Admission includes IHS’s award-winning Indiana Experience and the Festival of Trees holiday exhibit, with 75 elaborate trees decorating the building. To allow guests to mingle with the authors and have their books personalized and signed, masks will be required at this event.