If you are in the Austin vicinity this weekend, you should come take part in the Austin International Poetry Festival!
The festival takes place this Thursday through Sunday (April 3-6). Along with workshops and events for the registered poets (like myself) there will also be a whole slew of poetry readings held all over the city, and you should attend one! (Or two, or ten.)
Below is a comprehensive list of the City Reads, along with links and addresses to help you get there. It’s a veritable tour of Austin, so if you’re just visiting this weekend, there’s no better way to get to know the city than to go on a coffee-shop-crawl of poetry. There are also a few open mic events, so feel free to bring some of your own poems to share and add your voice to the festival.
In addition to attending AIPF, I am also very honored to be included in this year’s anthology, di-verse-city 2014. My poem, “Full Moon Year,” is in very good company among the work of some wonderful poets from Austin and beyond. The anthology will be on sale during the festival for $15. I’m not sure if all venues will have copies, but you should be able to pick one up at Strange Brew, which is AIPF headquarters this year (and also just a damn fine coffee shop and music venue).
What are you waiting for? Get out your calendar and start filling it up with poetry readings! Here’s the list. I hope to see you there!
[Note: I’ve highlighted the two readings I will be participating in and hope to attend several others as a listener.]
AIPF City Reads 2014
Venues:
- Strange Brew – 5326 Manchaca Rd.
- Kick Butt Coffee, 5775 Airport Blvd.
- Full English Café, 2000 Southern Oaks Dr.
- Monkey Nest, 5353 Burnet Rd.
- BookWoman, 5501 North Lamar Blvd.
- Dominican Joe, 515 S. Congress Ave.
- Alpha House, 2111 Chicon St.
- Barnes & Noble, Arboretum Location, 10000 Research Blvd.
- Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St.
- St. Francis School, 300 East Huntland Dr.
- Austin Books & Comics, 5002 N. Lamar Blvd.
- Threadgill’s, 301 West Riverside Dr.
Schedule:
Thursday, April 3rd:
- 12–2PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 1-3PM – Full English Café
- 2-4PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 3-5PM – Strange Brew
- 5-6PM – OPEN MIC – Strange Brew
- 7-9PM – Di-verse-city Anthology Launch – Strange Brew (I’ll be reading at this one!)
- 9:45-11PM – Erotica Read – Strange Brew (ADULTS ONLY, 18+)
Friday, April 4th:
- 10AM-12PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 11:30AM-1PM – “Beauty in Languages” Read – Strange Brew
- 1-3PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 1-5:30PM – (3 Reading in a row!) Strange Brew
- 3-4:30PM – OPEN MIC – Kick Butt Coffee
- 4-6:30PM – Full English Café
- 4-6:30PM – Monkey Nest
- 4-6:30PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 4:30-6:30PM – LGBT Read – BookWoman
- 7-8:30PM – Dominican Joe
- 8:30-10:30PM – Adult Poetry Slam – Kick Butt Coffee
- 11PM-2AM – “Mad Macabre” Reading – Full English Café
Saturday, April 5th:
- 1-3PM – Youth Poetry Slam – Alpha House
- 11:45AM-1PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 12:15-1:30PM – Strange Brew
- 1:45-3:15PM – Dominican Joe
- 1:45-3:15PM – Strange Brew
- 2:30-4PM – Kick Butt Coffee
- 3-6PM – (2 Back-to-back readings!) – Barnes & Noble, Arboretum Location
- 3:30-4:45PM – Strange Brew (I’ll be reading at this one. I think I go on first, so if you’d like to hear me read, get there on time!)
- 5-8:30PM – (2 Back-to-back readings!) Strange Brew
- 6:30-8:30PM – BookWoman
- 6:30-8:30PM – Dominican Joe
- 9-11PM – The BIG READ (All AIPF Featured Poets) – Strange Brew
Sunday, April 6th:
- 12:45-3PM – Haiku Death Match – Kick Butt Coffee
- 1-2PM – OPEN MIC – Huston-Tillotson University
- 1-4PM – Diverse Youth Anthology Launch & Reading – St. Francis School (This is always a really fun event to attend. The readers are published poets aged five to eighteen.)
- 3-4:45PM – Nerd Read – Austin Books & Comics
- 3-6PM – Music & Poetry Read – Threadgill’s
Carie Juettner 