Reading Series
Quick answer: A reading series is a recurring programme of literary events where invited writers perform their work. Learn how series run, and how poets get booked to read.
A reading series is a recurring, curated programme of literary events, usually monthly or seasonal, at which invited writers read their work to an audience in the same venue or under the same banner. Unlike a one-off launch or festival slot, a series has continuity: a host or committee, a mailing list, a loyal crowd, and a reputation that outlives any single night. Bookshops, bars, universities and libraries all run them, and since 2020 many operate online or in hybrid form.
For poets, reading series are the connective tissue of a literary scene. They are where you hear who is writing well, meet editors informally, and eventually get booked yourself. A healthy town has one; a healthy city has a dozen with rivalries.
How a Series Is Run
Behind every relaxed evening is a curator doing unglamorous work: booking readers months ahead, balancing bills so no night is four poets with the same voice, chasing a venue, and publicising each event to a list built over years. Some series pay readers from door takings or small grants; many pay in books sold, travel help or simple hospitality.
The curation is the point. An audience trusts a good series the way readers trust a good journal: whoever is on, the night will be worth leaving the house for.
Well-Known Examples and Local Ones
Famous series show the range. New York's 92nd Street Y has hosted poetry readings for over eight decades, with nearly every major twentieth-century poet passing through. At the other end of the scale, a back-room pub series with twenty chairs might be the most important literary institution in its county. Both kinds matter, and careers regularly begin at the twenty-chair end.
Getting Booked, or Starting Your Own
Curators book poets they have seen and trust. Attend regularly, read well at open mic slots, and be easy to work with; a short, professional email with two or three publication credits and a link to a recording does the rest. If your area has no series, starting one is the classic move: a free room, a regular date, two invited readers and an open mic will draw a crowd within three months, and the curator's chair is the best networking seat in poetry.
What poets can take from this
- Support a series for months before pitching yourself to read at it; curators notice faces.
- When you pitch, include a link to one short video of you reading, not five.
- Say yes to small towns and odd venues; unglamorous gigs build the set that earns glamorous ones.
- Arrive early and stay late when booked, since the series' community is the real payment.
- If you start a series, fix the date and keep it sacred; consistency builds audiences more than famous names do.
Try it yourself
Design the poster copy for an imaginary reading series in your neighbourhood: name the series, name the venue, and write a two-line description of the kind of poem a stranger would hear there. Then write that poem.
Questions
What is the difference between a reading series and an open mic night?
A reading series curates and invites its performers in advance, while an open mic takes all comers on the night. Many series include a short open mic segment, but the curated feature is what defines a series.
Do reading series pay poets?
Sometimes. Funded series and universities pay honoraria, community series often cover travel or split the door, and many small series pay only in hospitality and book sales. Ask politely when booked; professionals always may.
How do I find reading series near me?
Check bookshop and library event pages, university English departments, and the social feeds of local journals and poets. Attending one event usually reveals the rest, since hosts announce each other's nights.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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