Friday, Dec. 19 | 8 pm
Molasses Books
770 Hart St. | Brooklyn, NY

Join translator Sean Manning at this book launch for one the most celebrated poets writing in Spanish today, for the English language publication of Ida Vitale’s On Plants and Animals from Point Zero Press, which was co-founded by MFA student David Iaconangelo.

Manning will read from Vitale’s work and talk about his work on the book. Afterward, artist Mónica Palma will perform a piece inspired by Vitale’s latest collection.

Come listen, watch, and linger by the bar, or frolick among the shelves at Molasses Books!

About the Book:

On Plants and Animals mingles personal and literary anecdotes over sixty short essays, arranging them like compartments in her own herbarium-bestiary-library. Nothing escapes the gaze of Ida Vitale–this compendium includes entries such as a dancing bean (sliced open by a contentious surrealist) and the variations of toad songs to the loss of a pet dog during Vitale’s years in exile.

December 4 | 6:30 PM
Free on Zoom

If you’re looking for something to do after the MFA Open House this Thursday, you can catch our very own Kimiko Hahn at this virtual reading and conversation for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), which will explore community building and social change!

Literary leaders practice fostering communities in all kinds of ways – some quiet, some raucous. Poems can bring communities together to celebrate, to mourn and even to push for change. At this reading, audiences will hear from some of the most seasoned literary artists in the field as they discuss the ways they engage with challenges, both large and small, in their communities. Camille T. Dungy, Kimiko Hahn, Tyehimba Jess and Paul “Con Queso” LaTorre will explore the connection between poetry and social change. Each poet will read their own work, respond to their colleagues’ poetry and share their advice for using verses to advocate for a better future. Register here

This event is part of the Dodge Poetry Series

December 4
5-6 PM
Zoom

We’re hosting our annual Open House for the Queens College MFA Program in Creative Writing & Literary Translation on December 4  (5-6 PM, via Zoom). If you or anyone you know is interested in studying creative writing or translation, please come learn more!

QC’s MFA Program is supportive and friendly, with a strong sense of community. We are proud of our students and alumni. To take a look at some of their many accomplishments, click here. We offer tracks in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, and Translation—and encourage cross-genre exploration. Our 80-campus is lively and verdant. 

To register, click here. 

Monday, December 8 | 7 pm
Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library
Lecture Hall 230

We are so honored to announce that U.S. Poet Laureate, Arthur Sze, will be visiting our campus on Monday, December 8. Sze chose our college specifically because of our first-generation immigrant population, and his talk will specifically involve translation of poetry from other languages.

After reading from his vast body of work, Sze will sit down with our own Distinguished Professor Kimiko Hahn, herself the Poet Laureate of New York State, for a star-studded conversation on poetry and translation.

Poet Laureate is the highest title a poet can be awarded from a government or institution. The fact that Sze is not only coming, but selected us as the first public reading he will give in this position, is a huge honor for us. Sze’s goal for his time as Poet Laureate is to create a new anthology of poems from various languages and time periods with new translations, making these past works breathe again.

We hope to see you all on campus, or over Zoom at the link below:

https://bit.ly/ZoomUSPoetLaureate

Nov 23, 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Hudson Valley Writers Center
Sleepy Hollow, 300 Riverside Dr, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591, USA

The fantastic indie press Slapering Hol is shining a spotlight on emerging writers in MFA programs with spotlight readings at the Hudson Valley Writers Center. Of course they chose four of our students to take place in their upcoming reading!

Go see these QC MFA candidates for an afternoon of poetry in the scenic and serene Hudson Valley!

• Gianna Baez
• Mundo Rivera
• Cyndi Thompson
• Chaim Wachsberger

Details at the link below!

https://www.writerscenter.org/event-details/slapering-hol-press-and-hvwc-present-the-mfa-spotlight-reading

Monday, November 17, 2025 • 7 pm
Choral Room, Music Building
or join us on Zoom

Writers at Queens, the college reading series sponsored by the MFA Program, is bringing you not one but two incredible music critics on November 17. Deborah Paredez and Ann Powers are coming to talk about music and culture with a feminist slant–women who rock should scare the misogynists out there, which should be all the more reason to attend!

And if you can’t make it to campus, you can always join us on Zoom:

BIOS:

Deborah Paredez is a poet, performance scholar, and cultural critic. She is the author of the critical memoir American Diva (Norton 2024), the scholarly book Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the Performance of Memory, and the poetry collections This Side of Skin (Wings Press 2002) and Year of the Dog (BOA Editions 2020), a New York Times “New and Notable Poetry Book.” She is associate professor and chair of creative writing at Columbia University and the co-founder of CantoMundo, a national organization dedicated to Latinx poets and poetry.

Ann Powers is NPR Music’s critic and correspondent. Throughout a long career, she has worked at The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, and many other publications. She is the author of four books, most recently Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell (2024). With Evelyn McDonnell, she edited the classic anthology Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Rap, and Pop (1995). In 2017, she co-founded the award-winning NPR series Turning the Tables, which shed light on marginalized, underestimated, and forgotten voices in popular music. She lives with her family in Nashville.

Wednesday, November 5 | 7 pm
The Queensboro
80-02 Northern Blvd.
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
FREE

It’s after Halloween, so you know it will be safe to let your brain out in the storm–

Brainstorm, the reading series run by the students of the MFA program here at QC, is hosting its next session on Wednesday, November 5. Come listen to poetry, prose, and translation at the wonderful Queensboro!

Hope to see you there!

December 4 | 5 pm
Zoom

You’re a writer. Why wouldn’t you want to hone your craft in a place where language matters?

Located in the most culturally and linguistically diverse county in the nation, the Queens College MFA program attracts students dedicated to crossing boundaries in genre, craft, and language. Classes are small, mostly in the evening, and students work closely with faculty mentors. Join an exciting, creative community with affordable public university tuition in an urban environment with a verdant 80-acre campus.

Our MFA teaching faculty will be on hand to answer questions about the program, so come prepared to ask us anything about how classes are structured to what opportunities MFA students get to publish and work in their field!

Sign up via the Zoom link below, or just click on the image above!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/VGgmLNm0Qf-fKepr9Xs6gg

This year is the 25th birthday of Killing the Buddah, a magazine of religion, culture and politics, and we’re having a party! Please join us for PROOF OF LIFE: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF KILLING THE BUDDHA MAGAZINE on Saturday, October 18th, from 5-7:30pm at Judson Memorial Church on 55 Washington Square South in downtown New York City.

Come hear brief readings from KtBniks past, present, and future; learn about our brand new collaboration with The Commons; enjoy snacks and beverages and great company.

• Briallen Hopper
• Elizabeth Spenst
• Rebecca Suzuki
• Francsca Hyatt

Check the Eventbrite link for more information!

Writers at Queens, the literary series for the entire Queens College community, has announced their lineup of events for the Fall 2025 semester, and it truly has something for everybody–

Want to write comics? Talk about the creative process with rockers? Celebrate with award-winning writers? (Which genre? You pick!) This lineup has it:

Monday, Oct 6: Visual Storytelling Day with comics artist (and QC alum!) Kelly Fernandez.  

This event is part of Queens College’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month

Co-sponsored with the School of the Arts, the English Department, the MFA program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation, the Art Department, and the Latin American and Latino Studies Program.

Workshop 1:  “Cartooning after College,” 12:15 pm, Klapper 672. Refreshments and books for sale.

Workshop 2: “The Life Cycle of a Graphic Novel,” 6:30 pm, Klapper 672. Refreshments and books for sale.

Wednesday, Oct 22: 7 pm:  A Celebration of New York State Poet Laureate Kimiko Hahn

(co-sponsored with the English Dept, the MFA program in creative writing and literary translation, KCA and QCAP, AACS,  and SOA).  Le Frak auditorium. 

Kimiko Hahn will read and be in conversation with MFA poetry alum Sonia Arora.

A reception and book signing will follow the event.   (This event will also be live-streamed.)

Monday, Oct 27: 12:15-1:15. A talk by bestselling novelist Susan Isaacs, “A Life in the Arts.”  (co-sponsored with SOA). Location TBA.

Susan Isaacs will be in conversation with QC sociology professor and novelist Dana Weinberg. 

A reception will follow the event.

Monda,y Nov 17, 7 pm:  Women Who Rock: A reading and conversation with writers Deborah Paredez and Ann Powers.  

(co-sponsorships TBA)  Choral Room, Music Building.

Jason Tougaw will conduct the conversation after the reading.  

A reception and book signing will follow the event.  (This event will also be live-streamed.)