Buffalo Area Poetry & Literature Calendar (week of June 9 to June 15)
Seven literary events this week including the Buffalo Reading Invasion and events featuring poet Robin Lee Jordan
Tuesday, June 10, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Buffalo Reading Invasion—a flash mob-like gathering to celebrate the role of books, reading, public space, and community in our lives. Bring a book, a chair, and several friends or family members for an hour of quiet reading in one of Buffalo’s best-loved public spaces. This month's location: Bidwell Parkway at Potomac Avenue, near Buffalo Seminary. Visit http://buffaloreadinginvasion.com/ for additional details.
Tuesday, June 10, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Tuesdays at Cabernet, monthly open mic poetry and prose reading series hosted by Sinead Tyrone. Cabernet's Wine Café , 9 N. Ellicott St., Williamsville.
Tuesday, June 10, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Tuesday Night Open Mic Series at the Em Tea Coffeecup Café. All are welcome whether new to poetry or a long-time member of the community. 80 Oakgrove Ave., Buffalo, NY. Free and open to the public.
Wednesday, June 11, 6 p.m.: Poet and artist Robin Lee Jordan will be giving a reading, followed by a guided writing workshop prompt at Art's Café in the Springville Center for the Arts, 5 East Main Street, Springville, New York 14141. Robin will explore a range of poetics from tradition, to collaborative, to visual. This will lead to participants collaborating in a poetic “ritual.” This program is made possible through support of Poets & Writers, Inc. Free and open to the public.
Robin Lee Jordan is a writer, zine-maker, collage-based visual artist, teacher, and event organizer. As an artist, she has an interest in genre-expansiveness and multimodal, collaborative creation. As a teacher and organizer, she enjoys facilitating interactive, horizontal learning & arts experiences. Robin makes lots of zines. She wrote a libretto about artist Hilma Af Klint through a series of collaborative artmaking rituals. She wrote the chapbooks Morning Blessing Poems (Foundlings Press) and THEY ATE EACH OTHER UP (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs). Robin is an organizer for Buffalo’s ZineFest and, for 10 years, she ran a free creative writing program for teens in Buffalo, NY.
Wednesday, June 11, 9 p.m.: Poetry Night at Caffe Aroma, biweekly open mic reading series hosted by Ben Brindise and Justin Karcher. 957 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo. Free and open to the public.
Friday, June 13 at 7 p.m.: Fitz Books presents three artists working at the intersection of poetry + collage/zines + and music: poets Matthew Klane, Sage Enderton, and Robin Lee Jordan, with special guests Adam Drury & Jesse Miller of the band Managerial. Fitz Books and Waffles, 1462 Main St. in Buffalo.
Sage Enderton (@skenderton) is a Buffalo-based poet, collage artist, and DJ.
Matthew Klane’s books of poetry include Of the Day (Publication Studio 2025), Hist (w/ James Belflower, Calamari 2022), Canyons (w/ James Belflower, Flimb Press 2016), Che (Stockport Flats 2013), and B (Stockport Flats 2008). An e-book My is online at FENCE. Matthew’s debut record, Too Little Too Late, was released in January 2025. His collages can be found on Instagram @matthewklone. And he lives and writes and glues paper onto paper in Albany, NY.
Friday, June 13, 8:30 pm.: Ground & Sky Poetry open Mic at Caffe Aroma hosted by Joel Lesses. 957 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo. Free and open to the public.