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.

National Poetry Month with Poetry on Brick Street

Join us to welcome our special Guest Reader for Poetry On Brick Street. We are so happy to welcome home Alice Friman, and we know that many of her friends and students from her days here in Indy will want to join us at 7pm on Thursday, April 3, at the SullivanMunce Cultural Center, 225 West Hawthorne Street, Zionsville, IN. Don’t miss this special visit!  

Bring a poem of your own for the open mic!

Poetry Workshop with Liz Whiteacre

In this hands-on session, we will explore tools we can use to create imagery and consider how images in poems can tap into a wide range of sensory experiences. This session will focus on generating poems, but writers of all genres are welcome!

In the 70s, poet Robert Bly wrote about the “poetic leap,” or moments in poems when readers leap from conscious to unconscious thoughts while reading. An image can describe a mental picture for readers, and it can also express emotion, build a world, develop character, provide context, etc. for readers, leaping them to other things that they can bring back into the poem to enhance meaning, add layers. We will start with photographs, explore different ways to create images, and create a poem with imagery and poetic leaps. This session will focus on generating poems, but writers of all genres are welcome!

Registration link: https://attend.indypl.org/event/12501471

April Events at Ujamaa Bookstore

Learn More 2424 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr St/Indianapolis, IN 317-737-1155

Release Party at Wild Geese Bookstore in Franklin, IN

Learn more about individual events and register

Author Event: Cory Doctorow

Learn more and get your tickets here

Poets Laureate of Lawrence Celebrate National Poetry Month

Saturday, April 5, 10:30 am-1:30 pm
Lawrence Branch Library, 9330 E. 56th Street, Indianapolis
Featuring Liza Hyatt, Elana Thompson, Chi Sherman, Lylanne Musselman, John Sherman, Joyce Eggleston, JL Kato, Tawn Parent, M.A. Dubbs, Mary Sexson, Tracy Mishkin.
Open mic follows.

Author Event: Gretchen Rubin

FAR Center for Contemporary Arts: 202 South Rogers Street Bloomington, IN 47404

Learn More and Get Your Tickets+Book Bundle

Book Launch at Dream Palace Books and Coffee: Marilyn Wolf

Author Signing: Sara Goodwin

Vivian S. Delbrooke Visiting Writers Series: Padraig O Tuama

UIndy Kellogg Writers Center: Liz Whiteacre

Tuesday, April 8th: Liz Whitacre will be featured reader for the Kellogg Writers Series at UIndy, 7:30 PM, Schwitzer, Hall A.

Free and open to the public!

Brick Street at the Artsgarden

Wednesday, April 9th, 12:00 – 1:00pm: Brick Street at the Artsgarden readings for National Poetry Month begin on the 9th is Gerburg Garmann, Tawn Parent, and Celeste Williams, on the 14th is John Sherman, Lylanne Musselman, and Thomas Alan Orr, on the 21st is JL Kato, Amy Ash, and John Cardwell, then finishing out the month on the 28th is Norbert Krapf, Sondra Hayes, and Marjie Griffin. 

Word Out! in Hancock County

20 N. State St., Greenfield, IN There will be 13 readers, including Lylanne Musselman, Mary Sexson, JL Kato, Natalie Solmer, and Liza Hyatt to name a few.

Nightjar at the Tube Factory: Featured Poet Liz Whiteacre

Doors at 6:30 pm, Reading at 7 pm
1125 Cruft St., Indy

Open mic prompt: Write a poem about diagnosis. Or write a poem about resilience. Read a poem or short piece that is 317 words maximum, and challenge yourself to share new work!

Featured Artist Bio: Liz Whiteacre’s poetry explores accident, disability, aging, and wellness. She is the author of Hit the Ground (2013), it could account for the panic (forthcoming 2025), Hindsight 20/24 (forthcoming 2026). Her poems have appeared in Wordgathering, Disability Studies Quarterly, Kaleidoscope, Breath & Shadow, Flying Island, and other publications. Whiteacre is an associate professor of English at the University of Indianapolis. She teaches writing and publishing there, as well as advises Etchings Press.

Poetry Workshop with Indiana Poet Laureate Curtis Crisler

Wednesday, April 16, 6:00 – 7:30 pm: Indiana Poet Laureate Curtis Crisler will lead a poetry workshop at the Allen County Public Library’s main branch. Preregistration required.

Featured Poets at Room 5 Piano Bar

Saturday, April 19th at 7pm: Room 5 Piano Bar (Muncie, IN) there will be a few featured poets along with music at the Maybelle Flower Power – a 1960s Spring Shindig, the featured poets are Lylanne Musselman, Jennifer Criss, and Debra Gindhart-Dragoo. Musical performances are by Foxxy, Prairie Creek Sirens, Lovesick Moan, and Fierce.

Purdue Fort Wayne Visiting Writers Series: Mark Neely

Mimi Khuc in conversation with Cynthia Wu

Author Talk: Trang Thanh Tran’s “They Bloom at Night”

Thursday April 10 at Tomorrow Bookstore GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

Jasmine Guillory in conversation with Leah Johnson

Thursday Apr 10th, 2025

7:00 PM – 8:30

Loudmouth Books is proud to host Jasmine Guillory in conversation with Leah Johnson in celebration of Jasmine’s new book, Flirting Lessons. This is a ticketed event, and all tickets come with a paperback copy of Flirting Lessons. A signing will follow the conversation. Purchase your ticket for this event here.

WORD OUT! An Afternoon of Poetry and Prose with Coffee

Apr 12, 2025, 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM Hancock County Arts, TwentyNorth Gallery, 20 N State St, Greenfield, IN 46140, USA

Come in to hear readings by Lylanne Musselman- https://lylannemusselman.wordpress.com/ James Green, Mary Sexson –https://masexson.wordpress.com/ , Helen Townsend, Robin Gobetz, Karen (Kat) Lee, Natalie Solmer, Liza Hyatt-  https://lizahyatt.com/ Penny Dunning, Jeff Pearson, Mike Brockley, James Green, JL Kato  and George Wolfe.

With Jeff and Mike, “Bards on the Run”, will chat with you and write a poem about you for $10 donation!

Plan to enjoy the readings or join in whether you are an emerging talent or seasoned author, all will be there to find inspiration and celebrate the power of words!

Scattered Bean Coffee Co will join us.

Release Party for Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage

Grab your cowboy books and join us on Tuesday, April 15th at 6 PM for an open house-style release day party celebrating Lyla Sage’s last book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series: Wild and Wrangled!  Your ticket to the event includes a special copy of Wild and Wrangled! Buy Tickets here

Wild Geese Bookshop 40 East Madison Street Franklin, IN USA  46131

317-494-6545 WildGeese@WildGeeseBookshop.com

West Coast to Paris Tour – Angie Estes & Mark Irwin

Angie Estes’ seventh book of poems, Last Day on Earth in the Eternal City, will be published in March 2025 by Unbound Edition Press. Her book Enchantée won the 2015 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Prize and the Audre Lorde Prize for Lesbian Poets, and Tryst was selected as one of two finalists for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. Her second book, Voice-Over, won the 2001 FIELD Poetry Prize and was also awarded the 2001 Alice Fay di Castagnola Prize from the Poetry Society of America. Her first book, The Uses of Passion (GibbsSmith, 1995), was the winner of the Peregrine Smith Poetry Prize. A collection of essays devoted to Estes’s work appears in the University of Michigan Press “Under Discussion” series: The Allure of Grammar: The Glamour of Angie Estes’s Poetry (2019). The recipient of many awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize and the Cecil Hemley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, she has received fellowships, grants, and residencies from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the American Academy in Rome, the Lannan Foundation, the California Arts Council, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Ohio Arts Council. In 2023, she was a Writer-in-Residence Fellow at the James Merrill House. 

Mark Irwin is the author of nine collections of poetry, which include A Passion According to Green (2017), American Urn: Selected Poems (1987-2014), Large White House Speaking(2013), Tall If (2008), Bright Hunger (2004), White City (2000), Quick, Now, Always (1996), and Against the Meanwhile: Three Elegies (1988). He has also translated Philippe Denis’s Notebook of Shadows and Nichita Stanescu’s Ask the Circle to Forgive You: Selected Poems. His collection of essays, Monster: Distortion, Abstraction, and Originality in Contemporary American Poetry, was published  in 2017. His poetry and essays have appeared in many literary magazines including American Poetry Review, Agni Review, the Atlantic Monthly, Georgia Review, the Kenyon Review, Paris Review, Pleiades, Poetry magazine, the Nation, New England Review, New American Writing, the New Republic, and the Southern Review. Recognition for his work includes The Nation/Discovery Award, four Pushcart Prizes, two Colorado Book Awards, the James Wright Poetry Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright, Lilly, and Wurlitzer Foundations. He is an associate professor in the PhD in Creative Writing & Literature Program at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles and Colorado. 

Tomorrow Bookstore’s Two Year Anniversary

Author Event: Ellen Jovin

Authors@ Tomorrow: Abbitha J. Curtin

882 Massachusetts Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46204 Reserve Your Spot

Noontime Readings for National Poetry Month

Monday, April 21, Noon-1 pm
Indianapolis Artsgarden, Washington and Illinois streets, Indianapolis
Tipton Poetry Journal and Brick Street Poetry presents Amy Ash, John Cardwell, and JL Kato.
(Note: No open mic)

Midnight Release Party at Tomorrow Bookstore

882 Massachusetts Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46204 Learn More and Register

Book Release Party at Fables & Fairytales Bookshop

For more information and to purchase tickets click here

Brad Taylor in Conversation wtih Micharl Koryta

Learn More and Get Your Ticket+Book Bundle

Independent Bookstore Day

Independent Bookstore Day is a national one-day party held the last Saturday in April celebrates independent bookstores across the country online and in-store. Through exclusive books and literary items, contests, cupcakes, and everything in between, it’s a party you don’t want to miss! Tomorrow Bookstore celebrates Independent Bookstore Day every year by choosing a local non-profit to support by donating 10% of our sales. Learn more at www.indiebound.org/independent-bookstore-day

882 Massachusetts Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46204

Last Sunday Poetry Reading and Open Mic

849 S. Auto Mall Road Bloomington, IN 47401-5429

Coming Up Next Month

MONTHLY EVENTS

Click here for more information and to get tickets

Click here for more information

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

Monthly: Lit State Reading at IndyReads

The monthly open mic at Indy Reads now has a new name and date! Join us for Indy Reads Lit Stage on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 6pm (except when Indy Reads is closed for holidays).

The word Lit is short for literacy, the mission of Indy Reads! Lit is also a popular Black cultural word that means something is entertaining or exciting.

The Lit Stage open mic welcomes people of all ages, art forms, and languages to share your talents with our shared community. Open mic performances can include singing, monologues, skits, dancing, comedy, poetry and essay reading, and more!

Performers are welcome to use the stage area, podium, and microphone. We ask that performances keep to about 5 minutes. Participants can perform again if time allows.

Please note the Lit Stage open mic is family friendly. Explicit language, gestures, and behaviors are not allowed. If you are including music in your performance, we require radio edits only.

Monthly: Drag Story Hour at Indy Reads

Click here for more information and to register

Monthly: Writing Workshop and Open Mic with IndyUntitled

Monthly: Indy Actors Playground

Monthly: The IndyReads Book Club

Click here for more information and to register

Monthly: 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!

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