Updated 5/6/24

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.

Book Release Event @ Tomorrow Bookstore

Book launch for Indy-based Elliott Parker’s debut book “The Illusion of Innovation” – copies will be available for purchase and signing.

ABOUT THE ILLUSION OF INNOVATION

There’s a problem with innovation inside of big companies. And it’s not what you think. Corporations are better managed than ever, but they’re less capable of delivering the breakthroughs that change our world for the better. Big companies are too often focused on efficiency instead of resiliency. They’re optimized for safety and predictability, for maintenance of the status quo. Their focus on capital efficiency leads them to engage in an illusion of innovation: activity that feels like innovation but leads to value destruction, not progress. This book explains why meaningful innovation naturally emerges from deliberate inefficiency and how large corporations can harness the power of small teams—startups—to drive radical change through systematic experimentation.

ELLIOTT PARKER is founder and CEO of High Alpha Innovation, a venture builder that partners with corporations, universities, and entrepreneurs to co-create startups that solve compelling problems. He built his career in strategy consulting at Innosight, the firm founded by Clayton Christensen, in corporate venturing, and as an entrepreneur bringing new ideas to market. To date, he has launched over 40 venture-backed startups. Originally from California, Elliott currently resides with his family in Indiana. He earned a B.S. in Finance from BYU and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Register here

Authors@Tomorrow: Patrick Nevins

882 Massachusetts Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46204

About The Commission of Inquiry

A chimpanzee is stolen from Cameroon and rocketed to space as the test flight for John Glenn’s historic orbit; a former child star struggles to stay sober; a prehistoric mammal imagines a better version of itself; a trio of ragpickers strip Union and Confederate dead of their clothes; a couple sees the woods move; the former commissaire of the French Congo investigates atrocities.

Eclectic in its breadth and startling in its power, The Commission of Inquiry investigates life, death, and other matters, as Patrick Nevins delivers twenty stories built to surprise, challenge, and even change us.

About Patrick

Patrick Nevins is the author of The Commission of Inquiry: Stories (Cornerstone Press, 2024) and Man in a Cage (Malarkey Books, 2022). He lives with his family in Columbus, Indiana, where he is an associate professor of English.

Website: https://www.patricknevins.com/

Register Here

Tomorrow Book Store Book Club

Find out more information at Tomorrow Bookstore’s Website

Here’s what we’ll be reading this month (and when!):

• The Written World w/Julia Breakey (5/1): Turkey (it’s country-based and the book is your choice!)
• We Learn Good w/Nathan Shuherk (5/8): There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraquib
• Dope Diaspora w/Whitney Turientine (5/15): Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah
• Club of Power & Passion w/Halley Smith (5/22): Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh

 Reminder: Book clubs will run from 7:30 to 8:30 pm unless otherwise noted by your book club host.

If you can’t make it this month, that’s okay! You can get a jump start on June  :

• The Written World (6/5): India (book of your choice!)
• We Learn Good (6/12): On Trails by Robert Moor
• Dope Diaspora (6/19): Book of Delights by Ross Gay
• A Club of Power & Passion (6/26): Powerless by Lauren Roberts

 A quick reminder about books: as a book club member, you will be able to get book club picks for 10% off in-store, or you can purchase copies through our Bookshop partner page. (You aren’t required to get book clubs through us, but we encourage and appreciate it!)

Discovering Insurance Fraud: A Conversation with Tonya Sherman, Market Regulation Supervisor

Virtual Meeting Saturday, May 4, 2024  at 1:00 p.m.

Tanya Sherman, Market Regulation Supervisor, will focus on aspects of her work in market regulation that will be of interest to members of the Chessie Chapter. While her role has not been an investigation of fraud, Tanya has uncovered multiple instances of insurance fraud at the state and national level.

She will talk about the kinds of insurance fraud she has encountered, what alerted her to fraud, and risks involved. When Tanya became suspicious about patterns of activity at a house across the street in the neighborhood where she lives, she used her professional skills to identify a drug cartel at work. She will talk about the action that she took because of her professional training and data bases she used that are available to the public.

The program will follow an interview format and allow ample time for question/answer.

About the Presenter:

Tanya Sherman is a Market Regulation Supervisor responsible for the supervision of a market analysis department that coordinates the analysis for multiple state departments of insurance. She assists with special projects/examinations and market analysis efforts for additional states/territories. Ms. Sherman has been involved in various aspects of insurance regulation at the state and federal level.

She has worked for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) as an independent consultant and as a Market Analyst within NAIC’s Market Regulation Division and for the Information Technology Department as a Supervisor of the Quality Assurance Department. She worked with state regulators and other officials on market regulatory issues.

Ms. Sherman is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a B.S. in Journalism in Marketing and Advertising. She is currently a member of the Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (IRES). She holds the following industry designations: Market Conduct Management (MCM) and Advanced Market Conduct Management (AMCM).

She also has extensive experience teaching on a variety of regulatory topics, insurance software applications and has considerable technical software testing knowledge. She is a former Past President of IRES and the recipient of multiple achievement awards from both the NAIC and IRES.

To register

To RSVP, follow this link: https://chessiechapter.ticketleap.com/may2024  You’ll receive a confirmation email that contains the Zoom login info. Please ignore the ticket/barcode in the email and only use the Zoom link. 

Note: Ticketleap is a new platform for us, so if you encounter technical difficulties, please email chapter secretary Lauren Silberman at lrsilberman@gmail.com. Thank you!

Community Poetry Workshop

Attention all writers, poets, aspiring poets, and everyone in between: Butler MFA is hosting an upcoming
Community Poetry Workshop—taught by poetry professor Alessandra Lynch! 

This workshop is a supportive creative community designed to inspire, challenge, and enlighten poets of all levels of experience.

Dates: Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 30th- May 23rd, 6:30-8:30pm

Location: Efroymson Center for Creative Writing (530 W Hampton Dr)

Alessandra Lynch’s most recent collection of poetry, “Pretty Tripwire,” was published in 2021. She is also the author of three other poetry collections: “Sails the Wind Left Behind,” “It was a terrible cloud at twilight,” and “Daylily Called It a Dangerous Moment” (winner of the Balcones Prize, finalist for the LA Times Book Award and the UNT Rilke Prize, listed as a NY Times top ten poetry books of 2017).

Currently, Alessandra serves as Butler University’s poet in residence where she teaches in the undergraduate and MFA programs. Her fifth book of poetry, “Wish Ave,” will be published by Alice James Books in 2024.

Please contact Mindy Dunn at mdunn1@butler.edu with any questions. Link in bio for full information & registration.

Coming up Next Month…

Recurring Events

Indy Actor’s Playground

Writing Workshop & Open Mic with IndyUntitled

This monthly workshop/open mic hybrid is for the timid and confident, the professional and the novice, the performers and the spectators.

This workshop/open mic hybrid is for the timid and confident, the professional and the novice, the performers and the spectators. Our hope is through this event and our collective we empower all voices to come together.

4-5pm Workshop: come with what you are working on or writing prompts can be provided
5-5:30pm Break/Network
5:30-7pm Open Mic

This monthly event is recommended for ages 13+.

Drag Story Hour with Prince Brentlee and Aqua Marie–at IndyReads

Visit IndyReads for more information on this recurring pay-what-you-can event

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