The Writer's Den: The Griot Experience
Cost: $20
The Griot Experience brings together two of Richmond’s most dynamic poetic voices, Roscoe Burnems and MoeFlowz, for a night that moves beyond performance into conversation, reflection, and community connection. Rooted in the tradition of the griot, this experience blends spoken word, storytelling, music, comedy, and honest dialogue to explore the stories we inherit, the burdens we carry, and the truths we often leave unspoken.
Poetry Slam Sundays hosted by Roscoe Burnems
Cost: $10
Doors: 7pm | Show: 8 pm
The Writer’s Den hosts its first in-season poetry slam leading up to the Grand Slam in January 2027. Hosted by Roscoe Burnems
Sign ups: First come, first serve at the door. Max 10 poets for the slam. Original work only.
The Art of the Short Story
Cost: $200 (4-wk class)
Curious about creative writing and don’t know where to start? Seasoned story writer looking to shake off the rust or gain new perspectives? Just love stories and think it looks fun and challenging to make one? Come write with Ty at Shelf Life Books!
This 4-week class will closely read professionally published short stories, discuss craft questions about setting, character, and point of view, and generate a short story draft using a variety of generative exercises and exploratory prompts. Participants can also have their story critiqued in a supportive and empathetic workshop if they so choose.
Come sit around the table, make friends, and share in one of humanity’s oldest and most powerful methods of meaning-making. Leave with a draft, a revision plan, and a little momentum and community on your creative journey.
For Colored Girls: A Celebration of Ntozake Shange
Cost: Free
An online celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Broadway debut of play, For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuff, showcasing a mix of folks who’ve performed Shange’s work with those who’ve been inspired by it. Monica Prince, who directed and performed in a staged version of the play in March will lead the event. She will be joined by Shakeema Smalls, M. Mick Powell, Sullivan Summer, Jasmine Blooms and Rosa Castellano.
We will start and end with Shange’s words with aim of inspiring a new generation to read her work and to give time and space to the sharing of what that work has meant to those present. It will be heart opening.
The Half Life: A conversation with Rachel Beanland
Cost: Free
Rachel Beanland returns with her most captivating novel yet, The Half Life.
Rachel will be in conversation with
Rachel McRady, author of Sunseekers
From the author of Florence Adler Swims Forever and The House Is on Fire,
a novel set on a remote Italian island about a navy wife’s reckoning with
power, love, and the price of staying silent in the Atomic Age.
Reading and Book Signing: A. Van Jordan and Dr. Ravynn K. Stringfield
Cost: Free
A. Van Jordan and Dr. Ravynn K. Stringfield will host a live reading, audience Q&A, and book signing at Shelf Life Books.
This literary event arrives ahead of a historic dual milestone: September 12, 2026 is the 50th anniversary of the passing of MacNolia Cox—the first African American finalist in the National Spelling Bee—and the 5th anniversary of the Senate resolution honoring her legacy. Cox's life is the central subject of Jordan's award-winning poetry collection, M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A.
A New Sentience Reading
Cost: Free
Source
Celebrate the new anthology A New Sentience: Reimagining Animal Poetry, co-edited by local poet, Allison Titus with a reading of poems from the book at the new Richmond Animal Care and Control space at 2310 W. Cary. 6:30 p.m.!
Local poets, Devon Walker- Figueroa, Medusa Was Black, Sunflower Mo, Jeff Strange and Richmond Co-Poet Laureate, Rosa Castellano.
This in-person reading will be followed by an open mic, so bring a poem that celebrates animal life to share!
Jon Kukla at Tuckahoe Library
Cost: Free
An authoritative biography of founding father Patrick Henry that restores him to his important place in our history and explains the formative influence on his thought and character of Virginia, where he lived all his life.
The Heart of Our Home with Janelle Washington
Cost: Free
This author-illustrator debut from Caldecott honor-winning creator Janelle Washington is a timeless ode to one family's kitchen table: stained, scratched, and full of love.
Poetry Slam Sundays hosted by Moeflows
Cost: $10
Doors: 6pm | Show: 7 pm
The Writer’s Den’s hosts it’s Open Mic Night at Resist Booksellers in Petersburg every second Sunday. Hosted by Moeflows and featuring Sunflower Mo.
All art forms are welcome! Spoken Word, music, dance, comendy, whatever moves you.
Live In Da Garden Open Mic
Cost: $10
Doors: 7pm | Show 8pm
Sunflower Mo and Ricky Love hosts Live in the Garden Open Mic
Strangely Spoken Open Mic Poetry Night
Cost: Free
Join Strangely Spoken RVA and Blue Bee Cider for our monthly open mic poetry night where poets, storytellers and listeners alike come together for a night of creativity, inspiration and community. The Strangely Spoken x Blue Bee Cider open mic poetry night is a place for honest voices and attentive ears.
Sign ups start at 6:30pm!
Seating is first come, first served.
Author RVA: Ellen Huet, “Empire of Orgasm”
Cost: Free
A conversation with Ellen Huet, author of the Empire of Orgasm.
Building on the viral Bloomberg article that exposed the dark side of OneTaste and its founder, Nicole Daedone, Empire of Orgasm tells how a boundary-pushing wellness program became a cult that, according to dozens of witnesses, ruthlessly exploited its members.
A riveting saga and a nuanced exploration of the mechanics of manipulation, Empire of Orgasm is an extraordinary account of wellness gone wrong.
Presented in partnership with Jessie Gaynor (Lit Hub) and Mary Childs (Mary in America).
Ellen Huet is an award-winning investigative journalist who currently writes for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek. She’s the author of Empire of Orgasm, a book about OneTaste, a sexual wellness company alleged to be a sex cult.
24th Annual James River Writers Conference
The James River Writers Conference is designed to help you reach your writing goals, whatever they may be. We have included a mix of sessions that cover both the business side of writing as well as craft.
Sip & Sign: Local VA Authors at Hardywood Brewery West Creek
Cost: Free
What goes better with a good brew than a book? Meet a group of local Virginia authors at Hardywood Brewery: West Creek for the chance to learn about and purchase their novels and even get them personalized.
Speculative Worlds: Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing
Cost: $300
Explore prompts, exercises, and sample stories from professionals, then write and workshop your own creative draft. Got ideas for a science fiction or fantasy story but aren’t sure how to approach it? Have you wanted to try exploring these imaginative genres but need a push to get started? Looking for like-minded folks with whom to share work and explore ideas? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is the class for you. We’ll spend the first several weeks creating stories using prompts, exercises, and mentor texts, and then each participant will enjoy a supportive workshop critique of their original work in the final sessions. Participants will leave with a complete draft, feedback, and lots of sample stories and resources.
Long Player: Writing About Music. 4 Saturdays with Ty
Cost: $165
Explore and create different genres and forms of music writing. Do you obsessively make playlists? Yearn for the old-school rush of snatching a song from the radio for a mixtape? Thought about writing an essay about your favorite record? In this four week writing class, we’ll read album reviews, personal essays, poetry and more as we explore the intersection between music and literature. Participants will leave with a creative draft of an album review or personal essay, ideas for further exploration, and a reading list. The class will feature a celebratory reading and communal “mixtape” listening session if desired by participants.
Flying South Reading Series
Admission: Free, donations welcome
Doors: 7:30pm
A reading series in Richmond hosted by Ty Phelps and Jack Sadicario.
Strangely Spoken Open Mic Poetry Night
Cost: Free
Join Strangely Spoken RVA and Blue Bee Cider for our monthly open mic poetry night where poets, storytellers and listeners alike come together for a night of creativity, inspiration and community. The Strangely Spoken x Blue Bee Cider open mic poetry night is a place for honest voices and attentive ears.
Sign ups start at 6:30pm!
Seating is first come, first served.
JRW Readings by Writers: Open Mic
Admission: Free
You don’t have to be a member to attend, but you do have to be a JRW member to read.
Listen as James River Writers members share their work—finished, in progress, or somewhere in between, and enjoy some refreshments while you’re there.
An Homage to Home: A workshop and Reading
Cost: Free
Spend an afternoon finding community as we explore the questions: Where is your story of origin rooted? & With whom? In an all-skills level workshop meant for Richmonders affected by diaspora, we will dive into poetic storytelling using the practice of ekphrasis—writing based on visual art. For the workshop, please bring a digital or physical copy of any visual art (photograph, short video, painting, etc.) that reminds you of your place of origin. Then stay after the workshop for a reading featuring local writers and an open mic.
Strangely Spoken Open Mic Poetry Night
Cost: Free
Join Strangely Spoken RVA and Blue Bee Cider for our monthly open mic poetry night where poets, storytellers and listeners alike come together for a night of creativity, inspiration and community. The Strangely Spoken x Blue Bee Cider open mic poetry night is a place for honest voices and attentive ears.
Sign ups start at 6:30pm!
Seating is first come, first served.
JRW Readings by Writers: Open Mic
Admission: Free
You don’t have to be a member to attend, but you do have to be a JRW member to read.
Listen as James River Writers members share their work—finished, in progress, or somewhere in between, and enjoy some refreshments while you’re there.
Strangely Spoken Open Mic Poetry Night
Cost: Free
Join Strangely Spoken RVA and Blue Bee Cider for our monthly open mic poetry night where poets, storytellers and listeners alike come together for a night of creativity, inspiration and community. The Strangely Spoken x Blue Bee Cider open mic poetry night is a place for honest voices and attentive ears.
Sign ups start at 6:30pm!
Seating is first come, first served.
Richmond Book Affair: Summer Fling
Cost: Free
Introducing The Richmond Book Affair.✨
River Light Reads, in collaboration with The Quirk Hotel & Fountain Books celebrates the incredible talent and diverse voices of Virginia authors.
Featuring authors including Danielle Allen, Sara Raasch, and Stacy Hackney, three engaging panels, and a curated selection of vendors, this inaugural event is a love letter to Virginia’s literary community.
Live In Da Garden Open Mic
Cost: $10
Doors: 7pm | Show 8pm
Sunflower Mo and Ricky Love hosts Live in the Garden Open Mic featuring Richmond’s Poet Laureate Maurice “Moe Flowz” Brown.
Literary Open Mic Night at The Camel (Copy)
Cost: Free
Poems for People Virginia presents a Literary Open Mic Night at the Camel every 1st and 3rd Thursdays from 5:30 - 7P. Sign ups start at 5P. Come share a poem or two, a piece of flash fiction or an excerpt from a longer work. All are welcome.
Strangely Spoken Open Mic Poetry Night
Cost: Free
Join Strangely Spoken RVA and Blue Bee Cider for our monthly open mic poetry night where poets, storytellers and listeners alike come together for a night of creativity, inspiration and community. The Strangely Spoken x Blue Bee Cider open mic poetry night is a place for honest voices and attentive ears.
Sign ups start at 6:30pm!
Seating is first come, first served.
Ty Phelps presents Breaking the Lines: Poetry Through Design
Cost: $75
Join us at The Branch for the third workshop in the 2026 Maker's Studio series. Led by Richmond writer Ty Phelps, this immersive three-hour workshop explores the intersection of poetry and design.
Giving Shape: Retrospection & Projection in Personal Essays
FREE Online class
When we attempt to reiterate personal experience on the page, we often stick too closely to the facts and forget that the passage of time gives shape to the telling. We create “shape” in many ways, including a unique structure, imagery or sensory repetition, or playing with retrospective parallels. More than that, we forget that personal narrative is also about wonderment, and on the page this can look like an imagined projection of the future: hopes, assumptions, fears, expectations. Must register to attend!
Poetry Slam Sundays hosted by Moeflows
Cost: $10
Doors: 6pm | Show: 7 pm
The Writer’s Den’s hosts it’s Open Mic Night at Resist Booksellers in Petersburg every second Sunday. Hosted by Moeflows and featuring Sunflower Mo.
All art forms are welcome! Spoken Word, music, dance, comendy, whatever moves you.
Imaginative Projection: Beyond the Basic Facts
Cost: $15
Fiction & creative nonfiction writers will practice speculation and rumination in their work, pushing beyond the basic facts of their stories, and incorporating imaginative projection about roads not taken.
The Table of Life with Tommi A. Vincent
Cost: Free
Book People welcomes Tommi A. Vincent to discuss her new book The Table of Life. Moderated by Poet and Spoken Word Artist Lovey Smith.
In The Table of Life, Tommi A. Vincent invites readers to her table, where she shares a deeply personal journey of growing up and maturing into womanhood—where every lesson in food, love, and faith was a stepping stone to becoming the woman she is today.
RVA Lit Crawl 2026
RVA Lit Crawl 2026 is sponsored and co-presented by James River Wrtiers! Afterparty at TBT El Gallo
Literary Open Mic Night at The Camel
Cost: Free
Poems for People Virginia presents a Literary Open Mic Night at the Camel every 1st and 3rd Thursdays from 5:30 - 7P. Sign ups start at 5P. Come share a poem or two, a piece of flash fiction or an excerpt from a longer work. All are welcome.
Poetry Slam Sundays hosted by Roscoe Burnems
Cost: $10
Doors: 7pm | Show: 8 pm
The Writer’s Den hosts its first in-season poetry slam leading up to the Grand Slam in January 2027. Hosted by Roscoe Burnems
Sign ups: First come, first serve at the door. Max 10 poets for the slam. Original work only.
Embody the Feeling: Deeper Description
Cost: $15
Register Here
Fiction & creative nonfiction writers will push beyond common references and instead practice a more embodied description in their work, generated through sensory-related guided prompts.
“Layered Selves: Practicing Characterization”
Cost: $15
Register Here
Fiction & creative nonfiction writers will study examples of characterization and practice craft skills that seek to demonstrate the dynamic humanity of the people in our work.
Bespoke Bookcraft: From Bare to Beloved
Admission: $65
For those who love a bit of mess, mystery, and the charm of time‑touched things, this class invites you into the enchanted world of altered books.
Guided by Nycol Chapman of WindBlown Sister, you’ll transform a humble bare book into a richly textured, one‑of‑a‑kind keepsake using vintage textiles, reclaimed materials, found treasures, and gentle aging techniques. Nycol offers approachable instruction for beginners and seasoned makers alike, with all materials—including your hand‑bound, tea‑stained book—provided.
You’ll leave with a finished book, a chunky 4.25 x 5.5", new skills, and a spark to wander further into the world of book arts.
Commonwealth Poetry - Haiku Death Match
Admission: Free, bit.ly/cwptickets
Sign up: Participants register online
Doors: 2:00pm
Source
Bring your best 17-syllable musings and compete with them in a head-to-head poetry battle!
We are accepting up to 32 competitors to participate in a bracket consisting of best 2-out-of-3 matches. Winners, as decided by random judges, advance to the next round.
Submit and bring 12 pre-written haiku to ensure you have enough to make it to finals. Third place and championship matches will require poems written on the spot!
All who wish to be contestants must contact us through DM or email to participate and all haikus must be submitted to CommonWealth Poetry before midnight, July 22nd, to ensure the 17-syllable format is met.
Bring a friend and invite an enemy!
(Small) Prizes for top 3 finishers!
A conversation with LynDee Walker
Cost: Free
Book People favorite LynDee Walker returns with a fast‑paced and deliciously twisty new novel.
The Other Widow LynDee will be in conversation with RVA Bookstagram personality Alison Andrews of Instagram’s Bookish Beacon/groovin.thru.books
Cali Adeline's People Watching in the Desert
Cost: Free
Hear Cali Adeline chat about her debut novel People Watching in the Desert.
Cali will be in conversation with Elizabeth Becker, author of Moonlight Healers.
A funny and big-hearted novel for readers of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures, about a lonely young woman who prefers to observe the world rather than participate in it, and the seismic repercussions that follow when she steps out of her own bubble.
“Who Tells the Story *is* the Story: POV Tutorial”
Cost: $15
Fiction & creative nonfiction writers will come away from this generative point-of-view tutorial with a new and renewed understanding for how different perspectives can launch and sustain a narrative.
Jennifer Squared: Two Jennifers With Different Takes on Psychological Thrillers.
Cost: Free
Join us for a conversation between two award-winning authors, Jennifer van der Kleut and Jennifer Pashley, as they discuss their different takes on psychological thrillers.
The discussion will be moderated by John Copenhaver, award-winning author of Hall of Mirrors. Using van der Kleut’s new book, The Better Mother, and Pashley’s The House Guest, the two Jennifers will compare and contrast their different writing styles.
Poetry Life
Cost: Free
The Poetry Society of Virginia is partnering with Shelf Life Books to feature readings from a variety of poets from our area including: Poet Laureate Emerita Joanna Lee, Derek Kannemeyer, and poets from Rainbow Carnage and Youth Voices RVA.
Bespoke Bookcraft: From Bare to Beloved
Admission: $65
For those who love a bit of mess, mystery, and the charm of time‑touched things, this class invites you into the enchanted world of altered books.
Guided by Nycol Chapman of WindBlown Sister, you’ll transform a humble bare book into a richly textured, one‑of‑a‑kind keepsake using vintage textiles, reclaimed materials, found treasures, and gentle aging techniques. Nycol offers approachable instruction for beginners and seasoned makers alike, with all materials—including your hand‑bound, tea‑stained book—provided.
You’ll leave with a finished book, a chunky 4.25 x 5.5", new skills, and a spark to wander further into the world of book arts.
RVA Pub Club
Cost: FREE
Source
The Second official meeting of the RVA Pub Club, where authors and publishers gather to demystify the publishing process. We are excited to announce that this month we will be joined by special guest speakers Rachel McRady, author of Sunseekers, and Kristin Kisska, author of A Hint of Light
JRW Write-In @ Resist Booksellers
Cost: Free
Open to the public
Bring your preferred writing tools, grab a drink or a bite, and get some words written alongside fellow writers at Resist Booksellers in Petersburg!
River City Poets - Small Group Poetry Critique
Revision Exercises: Fiction Writing
Cost: $15
Source
Fiction writers will practice 3-4 quick revision experiments with their own drafts or story ideas. A completed story is not mandatory but you should have a clear story idea in mind to play with.
Peace in My World Activity & Storytime with Syeda Mleeha Shah
Cost: Free
Source
Join us at Book People for a children’s Storytime and creative peace-building activity centered around Syeda Mleeha Shah's picture book Peace in My World on Saturday, June 20th at 1PM.
Short Story Intensive: One Day Workshop
Cost: $55
Source
This one-session workshop class is for fiction writers (new or long-term) looking to try out the workshop experience, get fresh feedback on their work, and make new connections in the process. Students will submit and read each other’s work prior to class.