Literary Date Nights this May
I don’t know about you, but all these flowers in bloom have got me hot and bothered for a literary date night!
Or maybe it’s more because my kid won’t stop crawling around the house meowing and screeching, insisting I refer to her as a baby snow leopard. (It’s actually pretty sweet. She knows snow leopards are my favorite animal.)
As a writer, of course I love a good literary date—thankfully my husband enjoys listening to people wax poetic, too—so I’ve been searching for all the upcoming events in our area and praying for a babysitter.
In the process, I decided to make a list of literary events taking place across the country this month. (As you’ll see from this list, stories are adored and alive from coast to coast!)
If you find yourself yearning to slip into your semi-fancies and sit back for a literary chat or performance, read on.
Disclaimers:
While most of these “literary date nights” do take place in the evening, some of them are scheduled for the afternoon. (“Literary date afternoon” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, though, does it?)
Because I couldn’t pause time to write this post, I capped my list at 50 events, 10 for each region. However, there are many more great literary happenings in May, so if you know of an exciting one you’d like to share, please add it in the comments below.
I used this map from National Geographic to determine the borders of the regions listed. Feel free to take it up with them if you think I’ve misidentified your state. Thanks, gentle readers!
The Northeast
Boston, MA
Goethe-Institut Boston: “The HYBRID Launch of AGNI 95”
5/11/22, 7:00pm
In-person & Online
The Lenox Hotel & Reading with Robin: “An Evening with NY Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Weiner”
5/16/22, 6:30pm
In-person
Montclair, NJ
Succeed2gether: Montclair Literary Festival
5/5–5/9/22
In-person (2 events will be online)
New York, NY
92Y: “Quan Barry and Ocean Vuong”
5/2/22, 7:30pm
In-person & Online
92Y: “Christopher Lightfoot Walker Reading Series: Jennifer Egan and Don Lee”
5/5/22, 7:30pm
In-person & Online
PEN America: “World Voices Festival”
5/11-5/14/22
In-person & Online
The Center for Fiction: “A Reading with the 2021-2022 Emerging Writer Fellows”
5/19/22, 7:00pm
In-person & Online
Philadelphia, PA
Parkway Central Library: “Jason Rekulak on Hidden Pictures in conversation with Liz Moore”
5/18/22, 7:30pm
In-person
Portland, ME
SPACE: “Dirt Road Revival: Chloe Maxim and Canyon Woodward in Conversation with Dustin Ward”
5/9/22, 6:30pm
In-person
Print: A Bookstore (@ Bunker Brewing): “Breaking Bread: Richard Russo, Kate Russo, Anne Elliot, Alana Dao, Debra Spark, and Deborah Joy Corey discuss Breaking Bread: Essays on New England Food, Hunger, and Family”
5/26/22, 7:00pm
In-person (From the event page: “Profits from this collection will benefit Blue Angel, a nonprofit combating food insecurity by delivering healthy food from local farmers to those in need.”)
The Midwest
Chicago, IL
Auditorium Theatre: “An Evening with Neil Gaiman”
5/13/22, 8:00pm
In-person
Green Mill Jazz Club: “Uptown Poetry Slam”
5/15/22, 3:00pm
In-person
Cincinnati, OH
Artsville: “DuWaup’s Cincinnati Poetry Slam”
5/14/22, 5:00pm
In-person
Cleveland, OH
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow Branch): “Meet Author Chuck Klosterman”
5/16/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Detroit, MI
Source Booksellers: “An Evening with Jacinda Townsend, Author of Mother Country"
5/4/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Lincoln, NE
Francie & Finch Bookshop: “Author Event with Andrew Farkas, Author of The Great Indoorsman: Essays”
5/13/22, 5:30pm
In-person
Madison, WI
Council for Wisconsin Writers (@ Arts + Literature Laboratory): “CWW Awards Reception and Reading”
5/14/22, 3:00pm
In-person
Minneapolis, MN
Northrop: “Robin Wall Kimmerer”
5/17/22, 6:00pm
In-person (Available on-demand 5/18–5/31)
St. Louis, MO
Left Bank Books (@ St. Louis Public Library - Schlafly Branch): “Wade Rouse – Magic Season: A Son’s Story Launch Event”
5/3/22, 6:00pm
In-person & Online
Contemporary Arts Museum: “december Reading”
5/22/22, 5:00pm
In-person
The Southeast
Asheville, NC
Literacy Together (@ The Crowne Plaza Resort): “Ticketed: 13th Annual Authors for Literacy Dinner and Auction featuring Delia Owens”
5/5/22, 6:00pm (ticket sales close 5/2 @ 4pm)
In-person
Atlanta, GA
Delta Atlanta Symphony Hall Live: “Hannah Gadsby, Body of Work”
5/1/22, 7:00pm
In-person
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library: “Will Jawando: My Seven Black Fathers”
5/9/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Louisville, KY
Louisville Free Public Library: “Emily Bingham and Crystal Wilkinson in Conversation”
5/10/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Nashville, TN
Parnassus Books: “Salon@615 with Don Winslow, author of City on Fire, in conversation with Jeremy Finley”
5/3/22, 6:15pm
In-person
New Orleans, LA
Blue Cypress Books: “Poetry Reading with Nikki Mayeux”
5/5/22, 6:00pm
In-person
Blue Cypress Books: “Lucky Bean Poetry Open Mic Night featuring Renard Boissiere”
5/23/22, 6:30pm
In-person
Richmond, VA
Junior League of Richmond: “77th Annual Book & Author Event”
5/12/22, 6:30pm
In-person & Online
Washington, D.C.
City Tavern Preservation Foundation: “Georgetown Rare Book Fair”
5/13–5/15/22, various times
In-person
Sixth & I: “Jhumpa Lahiri: Translating Myself and Others”
5/26/22, 7:00pm
In-person & Online
The Southwest
Albuquerque, NM
National Hispanic Cultural Center: “Reading and Book Signing with ire’ne lara silva”
5/13/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Austin, TX
The Paramount Theatre: “Henry Rollins: Good to See You 2022”
5/2/22, 7:00pm
In-person
BookPeople: “An Evening with May Cobb”
5/17/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Dallas, TX
The Writer’s Garrett (@ Turner House in Oak Cliff): “The Writer’s Garret Celebrates 27 Years Literary Mixer”
5/13/22, 6:00pm
In-person
Dallas Museum of Art, Horchow Auditorium: “Live Event: Akwaeke Emezi”
5/31/22, 7:30pm
In-person & Online
Houston, TX
Inprint Houston: “Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Hernan Diaz and Alejandro Zambra”
5/9/22, 7:30pm
In-person (Season subscribers can view on the Inprint website)
Brazos Bookstore (@ Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church): “Mark Haber: Saint Sebastian’s Abyss”
5/13/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Phoenix, AZ
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (@ Orpheum Theatre): “David Sedaris”
5/9/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Santa Fe, NM
Garcia Street Books: “First & Wildest Author Event”
5/12/22, 5:00pm
In-person
Tulsa, OK
Tulsa Performing Arts Center: “Eighth Annual Grand Slam: Tulsa’s Best Storyteller Finals”
5/28/22, 7:00pm
In-person
The West
Anchorage, AK
Barnes & Noble: “Marc Cameron Signing”
5/7/22, 4:00pm
In-person
Boise, ID
Idaho Botanical Garden: “Bloom: A Reading Series”
5/9/22, 6:00pm
In-person
Fort Collins, CO
Wolverine Farm Publick House: “Gulo Gulo Open Mic”
5/17/22, 5:00pm
In-person
Honolulu, HI
Soapbox Poetry (@ The ARTS at Marks Garage): “May Open Mic Poetry”
5/21/22, 7:30pm
In-person
Los Angeles, CA
California African American Museum (in partnership with PEN America): “Raised by a Voice: Mothers, Daughters, and Healing Through History”
5/12/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Skylight Books & The Philosophical Research Society Present: “Book of Night by Holly Black”
5/12/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Missoula, MT
Zootown Arts Community Center: “Second Wind Reading Series Spring Finale”
5/1/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Portland, OR
Powell’s City of Books: “Kathryn Schulz in Conversation with Karen Russell”
5/2/22, 7:00pm
In-person
Salt Lake City, UT
Live at the Eccles: “Rupi Kaur: World Tour”
5/23/22, 8:00pm
In-person
Seattle, WA
Crosscut Festival (@ Town Hall Seattle): “Nikole Hannah-Jones with Christopher Sebastian Parke”
5/7/22, 7:30pm
In-person