Updated 3/15/24

There are many great literary events around Indiana. Looking for something to do?  Below are just a few ideas.

Many events are virtual. Please confirm with the venue for scheduled events listed here.

To be featured in our “Literary Events Around Indiana” monthly events blog, email the details to mail@indianawriters.org.

IndyReads Book Release and Panel Discussion: Raising the Curtain (at IndyReads)

On Saturday, March 16th, at 2pm, join Paul Hansen for a discussion of his new book, Raising the Curtain: Technology Success Stories from Performing Arts Leaders and Artists. The discussion will be followed by a Question & Answer session and book signing. This discussion is appropriate for all ages.

The panel will include:
– Paul Hansen, author
– Malia Argüello, production manager at Indiana Repertory Theatre
– Devon Ginn, director of inclusion & community partnerships at Indiana Repertory Theatre
– Julie Maslov Goodman, president and CEO of IndyArts Council, moderator

Proceeds from all purchases made through Indy Reads directly support our adult education and community & family programs!

Author Reading: Davide Tarsitano

Join Davide Tarsitano on March 16th at 4pm for a reading of his new book, Hollow. Author Q&A and signing to follow!

Indy Reads is thrilled to welcome back local horror writer, Davide Tarsitano, on March 16th at 4pm for a reading of his newest novel, Hollow. The reading will be followed by an author Q&A and signing.

This reading is recommended for ages 13+.

All proceeds from purchases at Indy Reads directly support our adult education programming.

Butler’s Vivian S. Delbrooke Visiting Writers Series: Tiana Clark

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR
TIANA CLARK

The Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series continues its Spring 2024 season with a visit from award-winning author Tiana Clark.

Clark is an award-winning poet, essayist, and professor best known for her poetry collection, “I Can’t Talk About the Trees Without the Blood,” winner of the 2017 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize. In 2016, her first book “Equilibrium” was selected by Afaa Michael Weaver for the Frost Place Chapbook Competition. In addition to scholarships at Bread Loaf, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Frost Place Seminar, and Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Clark is the winner of the 2020 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. She is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship, a 2019 Pushcart Prize, and is a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. Clark is currently the Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in-Residence at Smith College.

Clark will take the stage on Thursday, March 21 @ 7:30PM at Butler University’s Shelton Auditorium. An audience Q&A and book signing will follow the reading.

The event and parking are free to the public with no ticket required. Visit our website for additional information.

Let’s Create Something Timeless

Let’s Create Something Timeless | 10 a.m. March 23
Ujamaa Community Bookstore, 2424 Martin Luther King Jr. St * FREE * 
As part of the Indy Indie Book Crawl, this bookstore will host a drop in activity in collaboration with Our Type Love. Get creative with one of several typewriters and take home a letter, poem, or other keepsake. All ages welcome.

GHB Reading Series: An Evening with Emma Hudelson and Natalie Lima — Postponed Due to Illness

GHB Reading Series | 7:30 p.m. March 23
Golden Hour Books, 5208 N College Ave * FREE * 
During the Indy Indie Book Crawl, join writers Emma Hudelson and Natalie Lima for a Golden Hour Reading. Light refreshments will be available as you enjoy readings from two local writers. 

Authors at Tomorrow: Kenyate Senu

Authors at Tomorrow | 11 a.m. March 23
Tomorrow Bookstore, 882 Massachusetts Ave * FREE * 
Tomorrow Bookstore is a participating location for the Indy Indie Book Crawl.  Join author Kenyata Senu for a book signing and reading to celebrate her new book, Issa the Engineer.

The Indy Indie Book Crawl

March 21 @ 11:00 am – March 24 @ 5:00 pm

It’s time to book crawl across Indy! The first-ever Indy Indie Indy Book Crawl is a free, four-day book crawl with 17 participating stores and 3 grand prizes.

Here is how IIBC works:

– Pick up a 2024 IIBC bookmark from any participating store (like Indy Reads!)

– Visit as many stores as you can from 3/21-3/24 (there is no minimum!)

– Each store you visit will mark off your bookmark.

– Each store you visit = one entry to win a prize! No purchase is necessary but buying books is always encouraged.

Indy Reads will have special bookmarks that serve as passports during the Book Crawl. Our hours are Wed-Sat, 11am-7pm and Sundays, 11am-5pm. We will also have fun promotion on-site so that book crawlers can learn more about Indy Reads!

Mark your calendars from March 21-24 and go to bit.ly/indyindiebookcrawl for full details!

Butler University Visiting Writers Series: Tiana Clark

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize Winner and Essayist

March 21, 2024 – 7:30 PM
Shelton Auditorium
Tiana Clark is the author of the poetry collection, I Can’t Talk About the Trees, Without the Blood, winner of the 2017 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, and Equilibrium, selected by Afaa Michael Weaver for the 2016 Frost Place Chapbook Competition. Clark is a winner for the 2020 Kate Tufts Discovery Award (Claremont Graduate University), a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, and the 2015 Rattle Poetry Prize. She is a recipient of the 2021-2022 Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship and 2019 Pushcart Prize. Clark is the 2017-2018 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing. She is the recipient of scholarships and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. Clark is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (M.F.A) and Tennessee State University (B.A.) where she studied Africana and Women’s studies. Her writing has appeared in or is forthcoming fromThe New Yorker,Poetry Magazine,The Atlantic,The Washington Post,Virginia Quarterly Review,Tin House Online,Kenyon Review,BuzzFeed News,American Poetry Review,Oxford American,The Best American Poetry 2022, and elsewhere. She teaches at the Sewanee School of Letters. She is the Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in-Residence at Smith College.

K. Ancrum in conversation with Leah Johnson

March 29; 7:00 PM  9:00 PM

ABOUT ICARUS:
Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, this suspenseful queer YA romance from critically acclaimed author K. Ancrum reimagines the tale of Icarus as a star-crossed love story between a young art thief and the son of the man he’s been stealing from—think Portrait of a Thief for YA readers.

Authors @ Tomorrow Bookstore: Ray E. Boomhower

About The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World

The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World examines how the most unlikely of war correspondents, Malcolm W. Browne, became the only Western reporter to capture Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc’s horrific self-immolation on June 11, 1963. Quang Duc made his ultimate sacrifice to protest the perceived anti-Buddhist policies of the Catholic-dominated administration of South Vietnam’s president Ngo Dinh Diem.

About Ray

Ray E. Boomhower is senior editor of the Indiana Historical Society Press, where he is responsible for the popular history magazine Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including biographies of astronaut Gus Grissom; war correspondents Ernie Pyle, Robert Sherood, and Richard Tregaskis; President Benjamin Harrison; and journalist and political insider John Bartlow Martin. The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World is his 19th book.Boomhower can be reached via social media at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rboomhower
X: @RayBoomhower
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@reboomer
BlueSky: @rboomhower.bsky.social

Learn more about this event

Tomorrow Talks: Curtis Chin

Join Tomorrow Bookstore for a conversation with Curtis Chin, author of his memoir “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant” that was released in 2023.

“Chin’s vivid writing makes it easy to imagine him and his siblings hanging out at Chung’s and observing all the people who come in and out. Chin brings a combination of earnestness and levity to even more serious topics, like experiences of racism or denying his sexuality as a kid.”–Eater

CURTIS CHIN: A co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the non-profits’ first Executive Director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in twenty countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit, the Detroit Free Press and the Emancipator/Boston Globe. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant” will be published by Little, Brown in Fall 2023. His essay in Bon Appetit was just selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023.

Learn More

Get Inked! Teen Writing Conference

Meet Authors and Improve Writing Skills at Get Inked 2024!

A writer’s conference for students in grades 7–12 on the beautiful campus of Saint Mary’s College. Virtual option available.

Teen writers are invited to attend the Get Inked Teen Writing Conference. Hosted by Saint Mary’s College, participants will spend the day connecting with published authors in writing workshops and small-group breakout sessions. Students will experiment with style and form, share ideas, improve their writing skills, and make valuable connections with industry professionals and other young writers.

This day-long event is perfect for students who:
• Have an interest in writing and storytelling
• Want to be a little more confident in their writing abilities
• Want to meet industry professionals, and like free books!
 
This year’s conference features YA authors Alicia Novio, Patrick Flores-Scott, Kristin Bartley-Lenz, Katherine Higgs-Coulthard, and Mary Ann Moore, along with more to be announced soon.
 
Live far from campus? No problem!

Saturday, March 2, 2024 Virtual Conference on Zoom

Limited to 100 remote participants. Registration is $70 and includes two autographed books and a Get Inked Writer’s Notebook. Shipping of conference materials is included.
 

Students with financial need are invited to apply for assistance with fees through the Patricia S. and
Thomas W. Hill Scholarship for Young Writers. For more information on this scholarship, contact
Katherine Higgs-Coulthard at higgscou@saintmarys.edu.

VOCAB (Monthly)

Hosted by Cory Ewing & Januarie York with sounds by DJ Cleopatra

Door 8pm, Show 9pm General Admission *$10 at the door / advance tickets here

White Rabbit Cabaret, 1116 Prospect Street, Indianapolis, United States

Spoken Word ELEVATED: Black Excellence

Rhythm & Poetry Open Mic at PHIRI Art Gallery (Weekly)

Come Experience the Ultimate Vibe with LIVE performances by some of your favorite artists! RHYTHM & POETRY THURSDAYS is also an awesome way to network with like-minded creatives and business professionals from around the city, so be ready to connect with other amazing individuals!

DO0RS OPEN AT 7PM***LIVE PERFORMANCES AT 8:00PM

**ALL ATTENDEES WILL RECEIVE:

* Discounts on Photoshoots*

*Discounts on venue rentals

* Discounts on Upcoming Events at Phiri

* Discounts on all services at PHIRI

INFO 404.759.0530 ** 120 East Market Street, Indianapolis

An Evening with the Authors (Monthly)

Every first Thursday of the month

*Fake Authors. Fake Books. Real Funny.

Where literary satire meets sketch comedy.

Comedians take the stage posing as accomplished authors reading from their most recent works.

Featuring: Sam Griswold, Pauline Shypula, Jonathan Pfendler, Stephen Vincent Giles, Gwen Sunkel, Eric Sablan, Mariah Davison and guests

White Rabbit Cabaret 1116 Prospect Street Indianapolis, IN 46203

Tea’s the Artist Youth Open Mic Night (Monthly)

Thurs Dec 16 (every third Friday)

Our 3rd Friday is BACCCKKKKK!!! You won’t want to miss the Open Mic night centered around youth & teens and very family centric!!

Calling all youth, teenagers and adults to the stage to share your talents with us. From singing to dancing. Poetry to Spoken Word. Piano to Saxophone. Whatever your talent is, AS LONG AS IT’S FAMILY appropriate, we want YOU!

Tea’s Me Cafe Indy (140 E. 22nd Street, Ste. B, Indianapolis, IN 46214)

Writers Helping Writers (Monthly)

Hancock County Public Library has a writing group that meets on the third Wednesday of each month. Join us!

Brick Street Poetry (monthly)

Off the Bricks, a Poetry on Brick Street Podcast

Poetry on Brick Street Series

We meet the first Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm at Sullivan Munce Cultural Center, 225 West Hawthorne Street, Zionsville, IN 46077.

The next month’s Guest Poet: Poets from the Haiku for Hikers anthology reading with accompanying PowerPoint.

Margarita Mondays Open Mic

Welcome to Margarita Mondays Open Mic Night where you too can be a star

ILLUSIONS 3661 W 86th st

We welcome all comedians rappers poets and singers. Doors open at 8pm

Admission is free. Hosted by Aisha the Comedian and Mic Shaw.

Irving Theater Weekly Poetry Open Mic

Every Thursday night
7:00p – 9:00 PM EST
LOCAL POETS * ORIGINAL POETRY * COME READ OR LISTEN]

A completely nonjudgmental and safe space to share poetry! Every Thursday on the deck at the Irving Theater in the Summer, inside all Winter. Performances are broadcast live on our Facebook page (link below). Come enjoy original poetry and readings from local and regional artists, or present your own poetry.

This event is free.

FACEBOOK LIVE LINK  
For more information, visit the Irving Theater’s website

Books & Brews Open Mic