An exciting line-up of wonderful poets and writers will visit The Notebooks Collective over the course of the year. We are so excited to have these people in conversation as we learn about what drives them to create and how they do it. Plus, we can sit back and enjoy as they read from their work that has brought them to join us.
We couldn’t be more thrilled and we hope you check out the good news here and head over to the events page to register for events!
On 11/11, longtime poetry collaborators, Zoë Ryder White and Nicole Callihan read from their collaborative works and discussed their process. The two began collaborating in 1999 and have two published chapbooks–A Study in Spring, winner of the Baltic Writing Residency Prize (2015) and Elsewhere, winner of the Sixth Finch Chapbook Prize (2020)–as well as many other works in progress.
We were so happy to host Iain and Nathan on October 21 for a reading and conversation. Iain’s newest book, All the Possible Bodies, was published this fall.
We welcomed Taylor Byas & jason b. crawford to The Notebooks Collective in September. We were thrilled to have these two brilliant poets join us to talk about craft, friendship, using poetry as a means to reckon with oppression and more.
We welcomed Valerie Smith & Monica Lee Weatherly to The Notebooks Collective in August. We were thrilled to have these two poet-educators join us to talk about working in community, sharing cultural histories, and the importance of place.
A long-time friendship across continents. Both with roots in Washington, D.C. and with a deep attention to the world. Watch this In Conversation to learn about their new work and relationship with writing. And a very special crow.
Two poets interested in affairs of the heart and the abiding loneliness at the center of the human experience. Two poets who overlapped at Warren Wilson’s MFA program yet who have different styles of writing.
This conversation touches on maintaining a creative practice alongside life’s many competing demands (both in school and after it), what a first book changes and does not change, and the importance of literary/poetry friendships.
Massachusetts poets and friends Richard Hoffman and January Gill O’Neil joined The Notebooks Collective for an evening of craft, conversation, and literary citizenship.
Emotional openness. An invitation to think together. Fleda Brown and Anne-Marie Oomen aren’t just contemporaries; they’re friends and deep admirers of each other’s work.
Both acclaimed poets and essayists, Fleda and Anne-Marie are also both teachers, Michganders, and friends. They admire one another’s work because they see and listen deeply and make space for each other to explore the written word in various forms. There’s something magical about creatives who are so knowledgeable about each other’s work, and that’s the kind of conversation this was: intimate, warm, curious and generous. Enjoy.
When two long-time friends talk poems, writing, and promotion, you know it’s going to be a treat. Sarah and Cynthia first met more than 20 years ago in London, where they were both active in the open mic scene. In this In Conversation event they talk about both creativity and process: the structures of their respective collections as book-length “projects,” how their own journeys with OCD/anxiety have impacted their work; form and the relationship of form to writing in other genres (specifically how their recent collections opened the door for prose), and the benefits of joining forces this past year on book tour and book promotions.
What a joyful event! Dzvinia & María Luisa read poems and talked about multilingualism, translation, and poetry as church. While their relationship started as one of mentor and student, they now call one another cherished friends with a shared passion for exploring how primary languages shape identity and existence.
On January 28, 2025, poets Carolyn Oliver and Hannah Larrabee read from their respective collections and discussed both creativity and craft. Throughout the event, the two poets shared a reverence for science and deep wonder for–and curiosity in–the world (both seen and unseen).
An evening of poetry and remembrance hosted by Eric Doise, husband of late poet Saara Myrene Raappana. Eric was joined by Lauren K. Carlson and Halley Cotton, all of whom read from Saara’s collected work, Chamber After Chamber, which was awarded the Juniper Prize for Poetry. Saara was also the author of the chapbooks A Story of America Goes Walking (Shechem Press) and Milk Tooth, Levee, Fever (Dancing Girl Press).
A gifted poet and teacher, Saara left a legacy of not only powerful and award-winning poetry, but also as an educator, mental health pioneer and animal lover. Her great warmth, intelligence and kindness was evident to all who knew her and will be celebrated in this one-of-a-kind reading.
We invite you purchase her book. Please use the code CHAMBER at checkout to receive a 30% discount. A donor has offered to contribute $10 for every book purchased at a reading to her scholarship fund. If you already have her book, we also invite you to make a gift in her honor by donating to her scholarship fund by making a contribution and writing Saara’s name in the comments field.
Poets and co-founders of Bear Review, Marcus Myers & Rivka Clifton have grown together as poets, even as their own work is aesthetically different. As Marcus says, “This sharing and cheering each other on, discussing craft and aesthetics, swapping and giving books with and to each other has led, in some ways directly and in others indirectly, to our creating Bear Review.”
