write here in february 2026
seeking answers writing prompt, and over 60 literary and writing events happening in the Greater Cincinnati literary community this month
Happy February, Cincy Writer Friends!
I hope you’re staying warm with all this cold and snow we’ve had! Winter is certainly wintering, but hopefully that means you’ve had some time to cozy up with words. Fortunately, despite the snow, there are so many amazing literary events this month! In this edition of write here in cincinnati, there are over 60 great events to attend around the city, including many excellent author readings, workshops, Valentine’s Day events, open mic nights, writing groups, and more.
Wishing you a month of writing filled with love!
As writers, sometimes a little spark is all you need to create something new and unexpected. Whether you write a new piece or enhance your work in progress, and whether you’re writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or something in between, I hope this little prompt helps you connect with your words.
There is much questioning and uncertainty in today’s world, and often we want to know the answers before they’ve arrived or “how it will all turn out” before it’s happened. Your prompt this month is to write about an interesting and/or unconventional way of seeking answers to a big question. This could be a question of the nature of the universe (as in, what can the power of love do for humankind?) or the nature of a personal universe (as in, will I find love?). This might mean turning to a groundhog or another animal for predictions, placing hope in a fortune teller or holding onto wisdom from fortune cookie, obsessing over research and knowledge in attempt to unlock some puzzle piece that’s been overlooked, searching for truths in myths or memories or stories from those who came before, drawing constellations and fate from the stars. Perhaps you find the answer through writing (or at least the answer for now), or many potential answers, or renewed care for the question.
You can write this as creative nonfiction with something you personally are seeking answers about, fiction as something your character wonders, or poetry. Weave this into something new, or something you’re already working on. Work it into your stories, your essays, your poems however you see fit.
If something interesting comes from this prompt, write into it with love. And please let me know! I’d love to hear about your words.
Tales to Tails with Hera Aurora
Tuesday, February 3 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, College Hill Branch, 1400 West North Bend Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224.
Drop-in and read a story to our furry friend Hera Aurora, a certified therapy dog. Tales to Tails is a program that provides youth an opportunity to build on their literacy skills by reading to a licensed therapy dog.
Tales to Tails with Junie
Tuesday, February 3 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Pleasant Ridge Branch, 6233 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45213.
Read a story to our furry friend Junie, a certified therapy dog.
Writers Group at the Clermont County Public Library
First Tuesday of each month: Tuesday, February 3 at 6:00 pm at the Clermont County Public Library, Batavia Branch, Batavia Meeting Room, 180 S Third Street, Batavia, Ohio.
Share your writing endeavors, generate ideas, hone your craft, and network with fellow writers. Join us in person or via Zoom for monthly meetings. We have spots for 16 in person and 99 via Zoom.
Writers’ Group at the Kenton County Public Library, Erlanger Branch
Tuesday, February 3 and 17 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Kenton County Public Library, Erlanger Branch, Kentucky Conference Room, 401 Kenton Lands, Erlanger, Kentucky 41018.
Share your work and give feedback in this group for writers of all genres! New members always welcome!
Poetry at Artifact: Iain Haley Pollock, Blanche Kabengele, and Open Mic
Tuesday, February 3 at 7:00 pm at Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45223.
Don’t miss this one! Iain Haley Pollock is traveling from the Hudson River Valley to share his stellar poetry with us, and local poet Blanche Kabengele opens the featured event. Bring a poem to share in the open mic!
✍️ IAIN HALEY POLLOCK has written three poetry collections, most recently All the Possible Bodies, which was published by Alice James Books in 2025. His work has received recognition from the Cave Canem Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Poetry Society of America. He directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Manhattanville University in Purchase, NY.
✍️ BLANCHE KABENGELE, a poet from the West End of Cincinnati, is the author of Conjugal Relationships of Africans and African Americans, and Quiet as it’s Kept, Me Too, and Other Poetic Expressions of Life! She holds a doctorate from UC, and has poems in The Prose Poem, The Woolf and the WAYE.
Christen Randall in conversation with Kristy Boyce discussing and signing According to Plan
Tuesday, February 3 at 7:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, OH 45208.
Please join us for Christen Randall in conversation with Kristy Boyce discussing and signing According to Plan. Not able to make the event? Please click the link to purchase a signed copy to be shipped to you.
From USA TODAY bestselling author Christen Randall comes a cozy, feel-good queer romance about self-discovery, finding your person, and carving out a space for yourself in unexpected places—perfect for fans of Heartstopper, Felix Ever After, and Julie Murphy.
Mal Flowers expected senior year fall to be full of cozy sweaters, good coffee, and copyediting. As the new editor-in-chief of their school’s literary magazine, they just want to follow The Plan to graduate and get out of their small midwestern town—a place where, as a broke, fat, queer person with ADHD, they’ve never really fit in. But when budget cuts result in the lit mag’s cancellation, Mal is suddenly left scrambling for something to replace it.
That is, until Emerson Pike—who also has ADHD but is loud, confident, and Mal’s complete opposite—suggests the staff go rogue and create a zine instead. Which would be cool, except that making and selling contraband isn’t exactly what Mal envisioned listing as the extracurricular activity on their college application. A zine would be unofficial, unapproved, and definitely not in The Plan.
But a zine is also a good way to spend more time with Emerson, whose playful banter and bad jokes Mal can’t seem to get enough of. And maybe, with a group of new friends, the back of the charming coffee shop where Emerson works could be somewhere Mal does belong. Because breaking the rules with Emerson—and flirting with her over coffee—is fun.
Maybe The Plan isn’t the only way to find happiness, but can Mal let go of something they’ve depended on for so long?
Christen Randall (they/she) is a queer, fat, neurodivergent author of queer, fat, neurodiverse books, including Junior Library Guild selection and instant USA TODAY bestseller The No-Girlfriend Rule. When they’re not writing joyful stories for the next generation of geeky gay kids, you can find them making zines about neighborhood cats, nerding out doing readers’ advisory as a library associate at their local library branch, or at home planning all the D&D campaigns they’ll run one day, they swear. Christen lives in Covington, Kentucky.
Dayton Poetry Slam Open Mic
First and Third Sunday at 7:00 pm at Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E 4th St, Dayton, Ohio 45402.
One of Ohio’s longest-running poetry series at 24 years strong, the Dayton Poetry Slam offers open mic nights, feature poets and musicians, as well as the chance to compete for a little spending money. Come out, show out, and explore the Dayton art scene!
Quills & Queers Writers Group
Every Tuesday at 6:00 pm at Roebling Books & Coffee, Newport Location, 601 Overton Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.
Come share your words or listen to local authors share theirs!
Reckoning with the Past: The Historical Poetry of Frank X Walker
Wednesday, February 4 at 6:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut Street #1100 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Registration required.
Medgar Evers, civil rights organizer. Isaac Murphy, one of the greatest jockeys of all time. York, enslaved explorer on the Corps of Discovery expedition. These three pivotal figures are brought together in Frank X Walker’s body of work.
Known for coining the term Affrilachia and cofounding the Affrilachian Poets, acclaimed writer and activist Frank X Walker challenges dominant historical narratives and renders “the invisible visible” through his persona poetry. His extensive creative output is informed by his own experiences as well as figures important to US history. While these figures are eras apart, Walker finds the shared undercurrents of their lives, exploring themes of gender, family, and race in each collection. His poetry joins in a deep tradition of Black American literature that exhibits both a concern for historical truth-telling and a powerful empathy that looks to the future.
This first book-length study of an Affrilachian poet examines five of Walker’s collections to highlight how his poems on York, Isaac Murphy, and Medgar Evers address and bridge the disconnect between past and present. Author Kristine Yohe pays deep attention to Walker’s craft and emphasizes the pursuit of social justice and racial reconciliation underpinning his work. In this way, Reckoning with the Past not only adds to the well-deserved recognition of Walker’s poetry but also brings more awareness and respect to the lives of others whose voices are essential to the American story.
6 pm reception/6:30 pm program
Free & open to the public.
Registration required.
Copies of Reckoning with the Past will be available for sale & signing courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati.
Kristine Yohe is a professor of English at Northern Kentucky University, where she has taught since 1997 and where her teaching and scholarship focus on Black American literature, especially Toni Morrison, Frank X Walker, and the Affrilachian Poets collective. She received her BA in English from Emory University and her MA and PhD, specializing in African American literature, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2005, she served as director for the Toni Morrison Society Fourth Biennial Conference, held in greater Cincinnati and at NKU, in conjunction with Morrison’s Margaret Garner opera. Kris is currently serving as a board member for the Toni Morrison Society and for the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.
Her publications include essays on history in Morrison’s Beloved, as well as chapters in two books about Margaret Garner. Her article about Walker’s Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers was published in Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters in Fall 2024. Kris’s book, Reckoning With the Past: The Historical Poetry of Frank X Walker, will be
published on 27 January 2026 from the University Press of Kentucky. In addition, she is coediting, with Zanice Bond of Tuskegee University, the forthcoming book Teaching Affrilachia: Cultivating Community and Culture, also with the University Press of Kentucky.
The first African American writer to be named Kentucky Poet Laureate, Frank X Walker is Professor of English and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky in Lexington where he founded pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture. He has published eleven collections of poetry, including Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers, which was awarded an NAACP Image Award for Poetry and the Black Caucus American Library Association Honor Award for Poetry. He is also the author of Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, winner of a Lillian Smith Book Award, and Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate This Ride, which he adapted for stage. Voted one of the most creative professors in the south, Walker, a Danville native, coined the term “Affrilachia” and co-founded the Affrilachian Poets. A Cave Canem fellow, his honors also include a Lannan Literary Fellowship for Poetry. His most recent collection is Load in Nine Times, winner of the 2025 PEN/Voelcker Award.
Kids Silent Reading Club
Wednesday, February 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 2:15 to 3:30 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Westwood Branch, 3345 Epworth Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211.
Read with a librarian and other kids after school. Candy is promised for every silent reader!
Peregrine Haiku Society with The Mercantile Library
Thursday, February 5 at 12:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St #1100, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Registration required.
This haiku workshop – named for the peregrine falcons that live in downtown Cincinnati and nest at The Mercantile Library – is open to all aspiring poets.
The workshop begins with a review and discussion of an anthology of classic haiku, revealing that day’s theme. The last part of the session is spent writing haiku prompted by the theme of the day.
Led by Patti Niehoff, who has spent four decades writing, studying, and working on haiku.
Forget 5-7-5, this group is for anyone interested in focusing on those tiny moments of illumination, honing their craft, or just curious about the art form.
Free and open to the public. The in-person session includes lunch. To register or for more information, email Kara Willis.
Tales to Tails with Eoin
Thursday, February 5, 12, 19, and 26 from 10:30 to 11:30 am at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Maderia Branch, 7200 Miami Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45243.
Read a story to our furry friend Eoin, a certified therapy dog.
Children of all reading levels welcome, no registration required.
Non-Fiction Reading & Talk: Memoir, Mental Wellness, and the Arts
Thursday, February 5 at 5:30 pm at the University of Cincinnati, Langsam Library, Elliston Poetry Room, Suite 646 on the 6th Floor, 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221.
Sponsored by the Elliston Poetry Fund and the Robert and Adele Schiff Fund for Contemporary Fiction
The Creative Writing Program's Visiting Writers Series brings a number of distinguished authors to campus each semester. Visitors often conduct a colloquium with creative writing students in addition to giving a public reading.
All readings are free and open to the public. The Elliston Poetry Room is located in Suite 646 on the 6th Floor of Langsam Library on the UC Uptown Campus at 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221. Public parking is available in the Woodside Garage beneath Langsam Library, or along Martin Luther King Drive on the north edge of the Uptown Campus. An elevator in Woodside Garage will take you to Floor 4 (ground level) and once inside Langsam Library another elevator can take you to floor 6.
Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York City specializing in culturally informed mental health care for Black, POC, and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples. He also specializes in mental health for literary and performance artists. With a passion to use his Ph.D. for the culture, he serves as a therapist, scientist, educator, author, mental health columnist, on-air mental health expert, and international public speaker. Dr. Lassiter has appeared in such outlets as Forbes, NBC, PBS, Sirius XM, and iHeart Radio. He is the author of How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes From a Frustrated Black Psychologist, published by Legacy Lit Books. In the book, he tells his story of becoming part of the less than 1% of Black male psychologists, and explains how whiteness limits how we understand and practice mental health. Dr. Lassiter is also the co-editor of the award-winning text Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation, published by Lexington Books. Follow Dr. Lassiter on all social media platforms at @lassiterhealth.
Silent Book Club with the Kenton County Public Library, Erlanger Branch
Thursday, February 4 from 7:30 to 8:30 pm at the Kenton County Public Library, Erlanger Branch, Mark Twain Room, 401 Kenton Lands, Erlanger, Kentucky 41018.
Looking for some dedicated time to read, but don’t want to be told WHAT to read? Try out this Silent Book Club! You bring what you’re reading, whether it’s for another book club or the door stopper you’ve been working through for months, and you read for an hour. There will be snacks and drinks.
We will meet in the Reading Garden. In case of rain, we will meet instead in the Twain meeting room. Registration not required but if you sign up, you’ll get a reminder prior to the event!
Swashbuckling Heroines and High Seas Adventures with Novelist Vanessa Riley
Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 virtually through the Campbell County Public Library. Registration requried.
Join us for an unforgettable experience as we chat online with Vanessa Riley about her newest book, Fire Sword and Sea, based on the folk story of the female pirate Jacquotte Delahaye.
The Caribbean Sea, 1675. Jacquotte Delahaye is the mixed-race daughter of a wealthy tavern owner on the island of Tortuga. Instead of marriage, Jacquotte dreams of joining the seafarers and smugglers whose tall-masted ships cluster in the turquoise waters around Tortuga. In Haiti she becomes Jacques, a dockworker, earning the respect of those around her while hiding her gender.
Jacquotte discovers that secret identities are fairly common in the chaotic world of seafaring, which is full of outsiders and misfits. As Jacques, Jacquotte falls in love with Lizzôa d’Erville, a beautiful courtesan who deals in secrets and sex. While others see their work clothes as a disguise, Lizzôa’s true self is as a woman.
For the next twenty years, Jacquotte raids the Caribbean, making enemies and amassing a fortune in stolen gold. When her fellow pirates decide to increase their profits by entering the slave trade, Jacquotte turns away from piracy and the pursuit of riches. Risking her life in one deadly skirmish after another, she instead begins to plot a war of liberation.
Don’t miss out on this exciting discussion! Register now to embark on a seafaring journey of self discovery and reclamation of personal power.
About the Author: Vanessa Riley is an award-winning author and proud recipient of the 2024 Georgia Mystery/Detective Fiction Author of the Year. She writes Sagas and Book Club Fiction that brings to life the hidden narratives of Black women and women of color in novels like Island Queen and Queen of Exiles. Her stories celebrate strong sisterhoods, diverse communities, and resilience across historical fiction, romance, and mystery genres.Her work has been featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Publishers Weekly, and The New York Times.
Mindful Mic Session
Friday, February 6 at 6:30 pm at Roebling Books + Coffee, 601 Overton Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.
Join us the 1st Friday of every month for our new Mindful Mic Sessions!
This is our new monthly music focused open mic at our Newport location, hosted by Anna from Sing Anyway and local musician Nic Siemer. This open mic is for anyone who is nervous to sing or perform, has stage fright, or just doesn’t feel at home in the typical bar-based, often male-centered open mic scene.
What you can expect at these open mics:
-Grounding exercises to start the night off
-A warm, welcoming environment for marginalized folks
-Lots of beautiful music + voices
-Amazing N/A drinks and vibes!
This is a recurring event that will happen every month on the first Friday at 6:30PM. We can’t wait to see you there!
Build Your Own Blind Date with a Book
Thursday, February 5 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at The Bookmatters, 6 Main Street, Milford, Ohio 45150. Registration required.
Join us for a cozy, creative night where the book is included and the surprise is part of the fun. Our owner has carefully curated three mystery titles for you to choose from; then, you’ll wrap, decorate, and make it your own. 💌
We will teach you our book-wrapping technique, complete with a pocket you can fill with provided goodies like note tabs and highlighters.
February 5th, 6:30–8:00 PM
$40 per person, book + materials included
Writer-in-Residence Reception
Saturday, February 7 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Mariemont Branch, 3810 Pocahontas Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45227.
Spend an afternoon celebrating the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library’s (CHPL) outgoing Writer-in-Residence, Mary Kay Carson, who will give a reading of her new work completed as part of the residency.
Library customers will also meet CHPL’s 2026 Writer-in-Residence, Intisar Khanani. Learn about her work and plan for this year’s residency. Her YA series The Sunbolt Chronicles (Sunbolt, Memories of Ash, and Debts of Fire) and Dauntless Path (Thorn, The Theft of Sunlight, and A Darkness at the Door) both feature “mighty girls and diverse worlds.”
We can’t wait to welcome Intisar to the Library!
Light refreshments will be provided. Learn more at chpl.org/writer.
Charitable donations support the Writer-in-Residence program, including the generous contributions of Naomi Tucker Gerwin and The Library Foundation.
Local Author Spotlight at Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Saturday, February 7 at 1:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.
Join us for a special signing with local authors! See below for the local authors being featured at this event:
Leila Kubesch
James Meadows
Orion Monroe
Oneya Okuwobi
Peripatetic Poets Open Mic
Saturday, February 7 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at Muse Cafe, 3018 Harrison Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211.
I am beyond thrilled to announce that PPC will be back in 2026 with our first show being February 7!
Joining us on this chilly Saturday evening, I am excited to announce, will be the writer, speaker, amateur comedian, and aspiring actor, Addison B. Hall, known as webslyngr.
Our second headliner joining the incredibly talented webslyngr will be the writer jordyndamato! Come on out on February 7 from 7-9 pm for musecafecincy presents Peripatetic Poets Cincinnati Reading Series and Open Mic! 🎤
Now, more than ever the city and the world need your voice!
Come on out and take the stage, we’d love to see you!🌈
Author Table with Rebecca Case and Linda McCoy
Sunday, February 8 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at The Bookmatters, 6 Main Street, Milford, Ohio 45150.
Meet the minds behind Wonder!
Join us for an author table with Rebecca Case & illustrator Linda McCoy at The Bookmatters. Stop by, say hello, and celebrate a beautiful story of curiosity and creativity.
Community Book Swap at Urban Artifact
Sunday, February 8 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45223.
Bring a few books to swap and browse the table for new ones. Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, History, whatever your genre, bring it and find others while getting to know fellow bibliophiles and supporting a local business.
Young Writers Society
Monday, February 9 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at the Kenton County Public Library, Covington Branch, 502 Scott Boulevard, Covington, Kentucky 41011.
A social network for teens to share their creative works and learn new writing skills, techniques, and habits!
All skill levels welcomed!
Refreshments will be provided! Registration is encouraged, but not required!
Best for teens ages 11-18!
Make sure to bring your preferred writing medium (laptop, tablet, notebook and pencil, etc.) and any creative works you may want to share!
Daniel Coyle in conversation with Bill Goodman discussing Flourish
Monday, February 9 at 7:00 pm virtually through Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Registration required.
Please join us for Daniel Coyle in conversation with Bill Goodman discussing Flourish. Please RSVP to receive a link to attend the event. Purchase the book to pick up a signed copy in store.
A science-based, practical blueprint for cultivating a life—at work and at home—full of belonging, joy, and vitality, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code
What is a meaningful life, and how do we make one? How do certain communities foster closeness, fulfillment, happiness, and energy?
In Flourish, bestselling author and leading culture expert Daniel Coyle trains his eye on the groups and people who demonstrate exceptional connectivity, presence, and dynamism. He draws on research and original reporting—taking us inside an unlikely brotherhood of thirty-three men who were trapped in a Chilean mine, a tiny Michigan deli that blossomed into a $90 million ecosystem of businesses, an inventive Dutch soccer team that revolutionized the sport as we know it, and a disconnected Paris district that remade itself into a tight-knit neighborhood—to reveal the principles and practices that ignite and sustain thriving. He finds that flourishing groups do two things: They make meaning (creating deep connections) and build community (forging a common good).
Through captivating real-world stories, rigorous scientific studies, and firsthand accounts, Coyle reveals what sets some groups apart—and offers you the tools and insights to flourish in your own life.
Daniel Coyle is the New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code, which was named Best Business Book of the Year by Bloomberg, BookPal, and Business Insider. Coyle has served as an advisor to many high-performing organizations, including the Navy SEALs, Microsoft, Google, and the Cleveland Guardians. His other books include The Talent Code, The Secret Race, The Little Book of Talent, and Hardball: A Season in the Projects, which was made into a movie starring Keanu Reeves. Coyle was raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and now lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, during the school year and in Homer, Alaska, during the summer with his wife, Jenny, and their four children.
Silent Book Club
Second Monday of each month: February 9 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Rd, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.
Silent Book Club is a global community of readers and introverts, with more than 500 chapters in 50 countries around the world. SBC members gather in public at bars, cafes, bookstores, libraries, and online to read together in quiet camaraderie.
Learn & Create - Gratitude Journal
Tuesday, February 10 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Hyde Park Branch, 2747 Erie Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. Registration required.
Tuesday, February 24 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, College Hill Branch, 1400 West North Bend Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224. Registration required.
Join us for a time of learning and conversation as we consider the benefits of practicing gratitude, and craft journals to help cultivate gratitude in our daily lives. All materials will be provided. Registration required.
Create Your Own Zine!
Tuesday, February 10 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, Downtown Main Library, 3 South Room D, 800 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Do you like art? Have you ever wanted to create a zine of your own? Join us to learn about the art of zine making and design your own to take home! All materials will be provided. Adult Education In-Person Class.
Silent Book Club with the Book Bus Depot and Moonflower Coffee Collective
Second Tuesday: Tuesday, February 10 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at Moonflower Coffee Collective, 10936 Reading Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45241.
Join us for an evening of quiet reading and cozy vibes at our Silent Book Club! There’s no assigned book, no pressure to discuss—just you, your book, and fellow book lovers enjoying the peace.
The Book Bus Depot will be open for purchases, and Moonflower Coffee Collective will have their full drink and treat menu.
Tales to Tails with Nanny
Tuesday, February 10 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Harrison Branch, 10398 New Haven Road, Harrison, Ohio 45030.
Drop- in to read a story to our furry friend, Nanny, a certified therapy dog. Nanny is a super sweet dog who loves listening to stories that you can either bring with you or pick off the shelf to share with her.
For youth of all reading levels.
No registration required.
Voices for Truth: Ralph Ellison
Wednesday, February 11 at 7:00 pm at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45206. Tickets required.
Celebrate Black History Month with Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man—discussing its 1950s impact and relevance for today.
Celebrate Black History Month by introducing yourself to one of the most acclaimed works by an African American author: Invisible Man, written by Ralph Ellison over five years and published in 1952. The National Book Award was one of many honors the novel earned. As we discuss selections from the beginning of the book, we’ll consider its importance for the early 1950s and our own time.
Suggested reading: Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952), Prologue and Chapter One.
About the Facilitators:
Dr. John Getz is Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at Xavier University and has been volunteering for the Friends of Harriet Beecher Stowe House for many years.
Dr. Mich Nyawalo, Xavier University Associate Professor of Critical Ethnic and Race Studies; Chair of the Department of Race, Intersectionality, Gender and Sociology; and Director of the Gender and Diversity Studies Program at Xavier University
About the Voices for Truth Series:
We’ll study the writings of many authors from the 19th and 20th centuries to determine
how they discovered their voices,
the forms they chose for expressing their voices,
the needs both personal and societal to which they put those expressions,
the effects their work had,
how we can develop and enlist our own voices in service of our own values.
Harriet Beecher Stowe is our exemplar voice for truth. During her eighteen years in Cincinnati as a young adult (1832-1850), she discovered her voice as a writer, and in 1851, she decided to devote it to the anti-slavery cause. Horrified by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, she wrote to editor Gamaliel Bailey: “Up to this year I have always felt that I had no particular call to meddle with this subject [slavery], and I dreaded to expose even my own mind to the full force of its exciting power. But now I feel that the time has come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak.”The result, of course, was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the blockbuster novel that awakened many Northerners to the horrors of slavery and helped create the change of heart that would allow the Union to stand firm when the South ceded over slavery.
Erotic Poetry Open Mic Night
Wednesday, February 11 at 8:00 pm at Somerset Bar, 139 E McMicken Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
“Don’t Be Nice, Be Nasty...”
Somerset transforms into an intimate sanctuary for the curious, the bold, and the lovers of sensual expression. Erotic Poetry Night, hosted by the magnetic Ty Victoria, invites you to explore the depths of passion through spoken word, storytelling, and raw creative energy.
Sip. Listen. Feel.
Doors 8pm | Show 9pm (ish lol)
Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women’s Magic with Dr. Lindsey Stewart
Thursday, February 12 at 2:00 pm virtually through the Campbell County Public Library. Registration required.
Feminist philosopher Dr. Lindsey Stewart’s book, The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women’s Magic, tells the stories of Negro Mammies of slavery; the Voodoo Queens and Blues Women of Reconstruction; and the Granny Midwives and textile weavers of the Jim Crow era. These women, in secrecy and subterfuge, courageously and devotedly continued their practices and worship for centuries and passed down their traditions.
Conjure informs our lives in ways remarkable and ordinary—from traditional medicines that informed the creation of Vicks VapoRub and the rise of Aunt Jemima’s Pancake Mix, to the original magic of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023), and the true origins of the all-American classic blue jean.
From the moment enslaved Africans first arrived on these shores, conjure was heavily regulated and even outlawed. Now, Stewart uncovers new contours of American history, sourcing letters from the enslaved, dispatches from the lore of Oshun and other African mystics. The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the real magic Black women used, their herbs, food, textiles, song, and dance, used to sow rebellion, freedom, and hope.
Join us to take part in the magic and celebrate the legacy of America’s founding Black women. Register for free today!
About the Author: Lindsey Stewart is a Black feminist philosopher and an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis. She is the author of The Politics of Black Joy. Her work has been featured in Blavity, Signs, Hypatia, and the British Journal for the History of Philosophy, and she holds a 2021 Michael Beaney Prize. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
Tales to Tails with Winston
Thursday, February 12 and 26 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Green Township Branch, 6525 Bridgetown Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45248.
Read a story to our furry friend Winston, a certified therapy dog!
For children of All Ages, no registration required.
Fiction Reading by Mariah Rigg
Thursday, February 12 at 5:30 pm at the University of Cincinnati, Langsam Library, Elliston Poetry Room, Suite 646 on the 6th Floor, 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221.
The Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers Series brings a number of distinguished authors to campus each semester. Visitors often conduct a colloquium with creative writing students in addition to giving a public reading.
All readings are free and open to the public. The Elliston Poetry Room is located in Suite 646 on the 6th Floor of Langsam Library on the UC Uptown Campus at 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221. Public parking is available in the Woodside Garage beneath Langsam Library, or along Martin Luther King Drive on the north edge of the Uptown Campus. An elevator in Woodside Garage will take you to Floor 4 (ground level) and once inside Langsam Library another elevator can take you to floor 6.
Mariah Rigg is the author of the debut short story collection Extinction Capital of the World (Ecco, 2025), which has received praise from Oprah Daily, Vulture, Chicago Review of Books, Literary Hub, Autostraddle, and more. Her work has been featured in The Sewanee Review, Oxford American, Electric Lit, and Chicago Review of Books, among others, and has received support from organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, MASS MoCA, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Lambda Literary. Mariah holds an MFA from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Currently, she teaches creative writing as a visiting fellow at Mount Holyoke College.
Author Event with Cherie Dawn Haas
Thursday, February 12 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at the Kenton County Public Library, Erlanger Branch, 401 Kenton Lands, Erlanger, Kentucky 41018.
Join us for a reading and book signing with Cherie Dawn, author of Don't Ugly Cry While Driving: Words of Advice from a Yoga Teacher.
Cherie Dawn Haas is the author of the novels Girl on Fire and Ashes for William, along with two collections of poetry and short stories. She has contributed to WritersDigest.com, and by day is an Online Editor. She is working on her third and fourth novels, leads a monthly writing group, and publishes the monthly LifeSoup blog and podcast. She is also active in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and often works with critique partners. Cherie Dawn writes from her “imagination station” and lives with her family and almost too many dogs and chickens in Kentucky.
Roebling Books and Coffee will be onsite to sell copies of the book during the event.
The Writer and the Literary Agent: A Conversation Featuring Mariah Rigg and Amy Bishop-Wycisk
Friday, February 13 at 5:30 pm at the University of Cincinnati, Langsam Library, Elliston Poetry Room, Suite 646 on the 6th Floor, 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221.
The Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers Series brings a number of distinguished authors to campus each semester. Visitors often conduct a colloquium with creative writing students in addition to giving a public reading.
All readings are free and open to the public. The Elliston Poetry Room is located in Suite 646 on the 6th Floor of Langsam Library on the UC Uptown Campus at 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221. Public parking is available in the Woodside Garage beneath Langsam Library, or along Martin Luther King Drive on the north edge of the Uptown Campus. An elevator in Woodside Garage will take you to Floor 4 (ground level) and once inside Langsam Library another elevator can take you to floor 6.
Mariah Rigg is the author of the debut short story collection Extinction Capital of the World (Ecco, 2025), which has received praise from Oprah Daily, Vulture, Chicago Review of Books, Literary Hub, Autostraddle, and more. Her work has been featured in The Sewanee Review, Oxford American, Electric Lit, and Chicago Review of Books, among others, and has received support from organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, MASS MoCA, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Lambda Literary. Mariah holds an MFA from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Currently, she teaches creative writing as a visiting fellow at Mount Holyoke College.
Amy Bishop-Wycisk (why-zick) is an agent with Trellis Literary Management. With almost a decade of experience, she’s cultivating a wide-ranging list in upmarket and book club fiction, grounded sci-fi and fantasy, speculative fiction, expert-driven narrative nonfiction, and select YA, with a special interest in underrepresented voices. Her authors’ books have been NYT, USA Today, and indie bestsellers, a Reese’s Book Club selection, James Beard Award and Edgar Award winners, Indie Next picks, and Book of the Month and B&N Monthly selections. Before diving into the world of publishing, she graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a degree in Creative Writing. You can find her on Instagram at @abw.books.
Galentine's Day Romance Reader Party
Friday, February 13 from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.
Join us for our next Love at First Page event -- A Galentine’s Day Romance Reader Party on February 13th from 8-10pm.
Tickets are $30 and include:
Brontë Bistro prepared snack & cocktail or mocktail
Romance book recommendations
Fun activities and prizes
iNK Zine Squad
Second Saturday of the Month: Saturday, February 14 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at Indie Northern Kentucky, 507 Sixth Avenue, Dayton, Kentucky 41074.
We’ll see you the 2nd saturday of every month to make, talk, and swap zines. read what the cool kids are reading.
Poet Laureate Office Hours with Richard Hague
Saturday, February 14 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut Street #1100, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Registration required.
Second Saturday of each month, 12 noon-2pm. We will begin each session with One Poem At A Time, a close reading of a classic, noting matters of form, figures of speech, diction, and other features relevant to both readers and writers of poetry. Then a poetry-writing prompt and discussion, followed by thirty to forty minutes of drafting. Each session will end with a voluntary read-around of drafts, with general pointers for revision. Richard will also entertain questions about any aspect of the poetry game: submitting, publishing, networking, reading, performing. Occasionally, participants can take the opportunity to recite from memory a poem of their choice for the general delight of the group, if they so desire.
The End of Romance: An Evening with Lily Meyer
Tuesday, February 17 at 6:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut Street #1100 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Registration required.
A big-hearted, wise, unceasingly buoyant novel about a woman who, after escaping a bruising marriage, theorizes that happiness is possible solely with the eradication of all romance--only to find a love that could change her life forever.
Sylvie Broder was taught early to embrace joy. The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors whose greatest priority was enjoying the life they’d snatched back from Hitler, Sylvie believes in the tenacious pursuit of pleasure—yet, somehow, finds herself trapped in a suffocating, emotionally abusive marriage. With enormous fortitude, Sylvie frees herself and turns to graduate school, where she develops a new philosophy: Straight women will find true liberation and happiness only once romance is eradicated.
Now, Sylvie prides herself in separating sex from tenderness—having fun with men, but never committing to one. Then she meets Robbie and Abie, and finds her philosophy sorely tested. A warm and gentle man, Robbie treats Sylvie with patience and enormous kindness, offering her comfort she hasn’t had since childhood. Abie is passionate and dynamic, a man who challenges Sylvie, and with whom she finds herself constantly disarmed. With both men, she feels a deep desire that looks, worryingly, a lot like love.
Cleverly constructed, delightfully funny, and beautifully written, The End of Romance is an anti-romance romance novel that charts its fallible heroine’s tumultuous journey to love and happiness with erudition and deep feeling—a story for anyone who, despite their very best efforts, has fallen in love, and wondered why.
6 pm reception/6:30 pm program
Free & open to the public.
Registration required.
Copies of The End of Romance will be available for sale & signing courtesy of Downbound Books.
Moving Stories Writing Circle
Third Tuesdays from January to May 2026: February 17 from 6:00 to 7:45 pm at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206.
Be creative on third Tuesdays in a supportive creative writing circle led by Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum’s Artist-in Residence Sherry Cook Stanforth in collaboration with special guest artists.
The idea of “home place” reaches across generations and heritage identities, inviting diverse interpretations of history and personal experiences. In the questing spirit of novelist and activist Harriet Beecher Stowe, we will engage with a unique set of prompts designed to inspire powerful interpretations of heritage and community:
January 20 Kin, Friend, or Stranger? The People Along Our Paths
February 17 Home Gardens & Kitchen Table Traditions
March 17 Remembered Days of Work, Play, & Handed-Down Things
April 21 Wandering Landscapes & Waterways
May 19 Remedies, Healing, & Survival Wisdom
Open to new and experienced writers, these workshops will inspire rich reflection, creative invention, and supportive sharing.
Develop craft tips for your poetry, fiction and memoir practice
Find new ways to engage in family and community storytelling
Seed new writing projects inspired by surprising historical and cultural content
Enjoy camaraderie with supportive writing peers and talented featured guests
Learn about arts/cultural/writing opportunities happening in Greater Cincinnati and beyond
This MOVING STORIES program is offered in partnership with the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum, Urban Appalachian Community Coalition, and Originary Arts Initiative.
Mindful Poetry Virtual Gathering
Wednesday, February 18 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm virtually at The Well. Registration required.
We’ve invited members of our Mindful Poetry community to share a poem and a prompt for us. The format is simple. In each session, we meditate, consider a single poem, receive a prompt, write, and then share with the group.
Stay tuned for the selected poem for this Virtual Gathering! Gifted Johnson-Wilkinson as our Poetry Facilitator.
Gathering is February 18th, 2026 from 3-4 PM Eastern Time (US).
Come with a pen, paper, and an open heart. And keep in mind that this is a family-friendly offering. Please arrive on time. We will hold a 10-minute grace period, if you arrive later than that time, we apologize but you won’t be able to get in. We create a very intentional beginning experience for our guests. If you miss it, we will share the recorded session and have more events to join throughout the year.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Poetry Stacked
Wednesday, February 18 at 4:30 pm at the University of Cincinnati, Walter C. Langsam Library, 6th floor east stacks, 2911 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221.
The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.
At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:
Richard Hague is author or editor of 23 volumes, including, with Sherry Cook Stanforth and Michael Thompson, Tributaria: Poetry, Prose, & Art Inspired by Tributaries of the Ohio River Watershed, the poetry collection Continued Cases, and the essay collection Earnest Occupations: Teaching, Writing, Gardening, & Other Local Work. He was named Co-Poet of the Year in 1984 by the Ohio Poetry Association, received the Appalachian Poetry Book of the Year in 2003, and the Weatherford Award in Poetry in 2013. He has been a Pushcart Prize nominee in both poetry and nonfiction and has received several Individual Artist Fellowships in poetry and creative nonfiction from the Ohio Arts Council, and a Katherine Bakeless Scholarship in Creative Nonfiction to Bread Loaf. He is 2025-2027 Poet Laureate of Cincinnati & The Mercantile Library and was 2021-2022 President of the Literary Club of Cincinnati. He has taught writing in Cincinnati and elsewhere for 56 years.
Chelsea Whitton is the author of Bear Trap and Wonder Wheel, forthcoming in March of 2026. She holds a PhD from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA in Poetry from The New School. Her poetry and prose have appeared in many of print and online publications, including Beloit Poetry Journal, Copper Nickel, Cream City Review, Poetry Ireland, The Atlanta Review, and Forklift-Ohio. Her work has been a finalist for the Gearhart Prize and the Frost Place and Adrienne Richard awards for poetry. She is the recipient of the 2018 Sandy Crimmins National Poetry Prize. Since 2021 she has been a staff member for the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Raised in North Carolina, she spent her twenties in New York, and now lives in Cincinnati with her husband, Matthew, their twin sons, and their cat, Dolly. She teaches creative writing and literature at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
Emma Johnson-Rivard is a doctoral student in creative writing at the University of Cincinnati. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Tales to Terrify, Red Flag Poetry, and others. She can be found @blackcattales on Bluesky and at emmajohnson-rivard.com.
Women of Beecher Place Open Mic: February
Thursday, February 19 at 5:30 pm at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45206. Tickets required.
The world needs your words! Join new and experienced poets in a space that honors world-changing words and rooted community.
Bring a poem or song to share in the relaxed and welcoming historic Edgemont Inn tavern space at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House museum.
Hosted by poet and storyteller Zeda Stew. Light refreshments included.
Dark Romance Night
Thursday, February 19 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at The Bookmatters, 6 Main Street, Milford, Ohio 45150. Tickets required.
Calling all our dark romance girlies come celebrate Valentine’s with your favorite shadow daddies (IFYKYK).
On February 19th from 7:00-8:30 we will be hosting Dark Romance Night. A night filled with Reclaim and Reignite products, themed refreshments, and a select amount of curated dark romance titles.
Tickets are $25 and available on our website!
Must be 21+ to attend!
Queer Open Mic
Friday, February 20 at 6:00 pm at Roebling Books & Coffee, 601 Overton Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.
Queer Open Mic hosted by Quills and Queers is back! Join us in celebrating LGBTQ+ writers, poets, performers, and storytellers. Whether you’re sharing published work, a rough draft, spoken word, or just want to support the community, all are welco
Zine Workshop
Saturday, February 21 at 11:00 am at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut Street #1100 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Registration required.
Learn how to make a zine, a fast, easy, un-censored form of expression!
Librarian Shannon Sloan will give you a a brief introduction to the history and types of zines, show you how to fold a zine and why that matters, and help you create your first zine.
The workshop will take about 90 minutes. Free and open to the public, but seats are limited. Registration required.
Local Author Fair
Saturday, February 21 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Forest Park Branch, 660 Northland Boulevard, Cincinnati, Ohio 45240.
This lively afternoon celebrates stories, creativity, and community. Meet talented local authors, browse books for all ages, and discover your next favorite read.
Registration is not required. Drop in anytime during the event!
Amanda McCracken in conversation with Tana Weingartner discussing and signing When Longing Becomes Your Lover
Sunday, February 22 at 4:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.
Please join us for Amanda McCracken in conversation with Tana Weingartner discussing and signing When Longing Becomes Your Lover.
“Readers of Glennon Doyle will especially appreciate this.” — Publisher’s Weekly
Author of the popular New York Times articles “Is It a Crush or Have You Fallen Into Limerence?” and “Does My Virginity Have a Shelf Life?” Amanda McCracken shares her honest, funny, and at times heartbreaking story of learning how to seek true love and intimacy.
Journalist and late-in-life virgin Amanda McCracken dated over 100 men by the time she was in her late thirties. She was so certain she was doing everything she could to find the loving, lasting relationship she wanted. So why wasn’t it working? After another breakdown in her therapist’s office, she came to a startling realization: she was addicted to longing.
This realization was part of a 10-year journey to understand the cultural, neurological, and psychological factors that shaped her beliefs about love, sex, and commitment. She began to understand that longing for someone feels good. It can even feel better than being in a secure relationship. Longing can provide a sense of control when life is uncertain and offers a safe place to hide from emotional vulnerability, especially in today’s online dating and hookup world. But longing can trigger an addictive neurochemical boost that can derail us from forming healthy, intimate relationships.
In this searingly honest book, Amanda shares the crushes, relationships, situationships, travel, friendships, hookups, bad dates, wins, losses, and brushes with fate that came with her journey. Starting with her early childhood hero fantasies and how they evolved in her tween and teen years into a commitment to the purity movement espoused at her church, she chronicles her profound longing for love that led her to her lowest point. She provides a deep, exploratory look into the state of mind known as limerence: an obsessive rumination on an idealized version of someone. Amanda weaves together her personal journey with research, storytelling, soul-searching questions, and quotes from experts and nonexperts alike to reveal the addictive nature of longing while providing hope through her journey of breaking her patterns and ultimately choosing the path towards healthy, authentic intimacy.
Amanda McCracken is an award-winning journalist passionate about experiences that highlight the intersection of wellness, travel, and relationships. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Vogue, National Geographic, Elle, NPR, Outside, ESPN, SELF, Runner’s World, and many others. She published her first article about longing in 2013, which led to additional articles featuring personal anecdotes and deep research and interviews with the BBC and Katie Couric. She is now considered a “limerence expert” and intimacy advocate. Her 2023 TED Talk, “How Longing Keeps Us From Healthy Relationships,” and her podcast, The Longing Lab, highlight how longing can become self sabotaging and shares how to change our patterns of longing. McCracken is also a part-time university instructor, massage therapist, triathlon coach, and competitive athlete. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, McCracken put down roots with her husband and daughter in Boulder, Colorado, after a trip around the world aboard the Peace Boat.
Amanda and Tana Weingartner’s friendship goes back decades to when they were cast as mother and daughter in a middle school play. Tana is an avid reader, hiker and soccer fan who works locally in public radio. When she’s not busy interviewing people, she’s most likely to be found asking to pet your dog.
UC Clermont Reading and Poetry Series with Christopher Bakken
Tuesday, February 24 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the University of Cincinnati Clermont, 4200 Clermont College Drive, Batavia, Ohio 45103.
Join us for the first Reading & Poetry Series of the semester with Christopher Bakken!
Q&A with the author at 9:30 am in Jones 116
Reading in the Frederick Marcotte Library at 11:00 am with a book signing and reception to follow
Both events are free and open to the public.
Christopher Bakken is the author of the culinary memoir, Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table, and four books of poetry, Driving the Beast (2025), Eternity & Oranges, Goat Funeral, and After Greece. He also co-translated The Lions’ Gate: Selected Poems of Titos Patrikios. Bakken is a Professor of English at Allegheny College and he serves as Director of Writing Workshops in Greece: Thessaloniki & Thasos. He is poetry editor at Ergon: Greek/American Arts and Letters.
He has twice served as a Fulbright Scholar: in 2021-22 at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, and in 2008 at the University of Bucharest, Romania. His work has earned him the T.S. Eliot Prize in Poetry, the McGinnis-Ritchie Award for Nonfiction from Southwest Review, the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize, the Texas Institute of Letters’ Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry, the Collins Prize from Birmingham Poetry Review, and residencies at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the International Writers’ and Translators’ Center of Rhodes.
He received his Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Houston, his M.F.A. in Poetry from Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and his B.A. in English from University of Wisconsin–Madison. His poetry, nonfiction, reviews, and translations have appeared widely in the United States and abroad, in The Paris Review, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Wall Street Journal, New England Review, The Hudson Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere.
Smithson’s Gamble: The Incredible History Behind the World’s Largest Museum with Smithsonian Curator Emeritus Tom Crouch
Tuesday, February 24 at 2:00 pm virtually through the Campbell County Public Library. Registration required.
Tom D. Crouch, a Smithsonian veteran of almost 45 years, paints a robust picture of a unique American establishment and its lasting legacies in his book Smithson’s Gamble.
Follow the fascinating growth and development of the world’s largest museum and research complex during its first 60 years. Told in rich detail, Smithson’s Gamble reveals how, as it defined a role rooted in curiosity and exploration, the Smithsonian helped to shape the nation’s developing identity.
The Smithsonian evolved from a small, narrowly focused organization into an institution leading the way in fields from astrophysics to zoology. Smithsonian researchers, and the hundreds of citizen scientists who they recruited, created a collection that documented the natural and human history of a continent. The American conservation movement and a national weather service are rooted at the Smithsonian. Smithson’s Gamble is filled with fascinating characters, twists and turns, and moments of triumph and tragedy, complete with political machinations, a bit of backstabbing, accusations of murder, and the occasional scandal.
Register now to take part in the conversation and learn about the trials, errors, and incredible legacy of the Smithsonian’s foundation.
About the Author: Tom Crouch joined the Smithsonian in 1974 and has served both the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History in a variety of curatorial and administrative posts.
Dr. Crouch has won several major writing awards, including a 1989 Christopher Award, a literary prize recognizing “significant artistic achievement in support of the highest values of the human spirit,” for The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright. His book, Wings: A History of Aviation From Kites to the Space Age, won the AIAA Gardner-Lasser Literature Prize for 2005.
In the fall of 2000, President Clinton appointed Dr. Crouch to the Chairmanship of the First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board, an organization created to advise the Centennial of Flight Commission on activities planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of powered flight.
Everything Lost Returns: An Evening with Sarah Domet
Tuesday, February 24 at 6:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut Street #1100 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Registration required.
The poignant, utterly original story of two women separated across time but united by the arrival of Halley’s comet, as blazing and as daring as their stories.
1986. The Earthshine Soap Company has given Nona Dixon everything, from making her the brand’s first Earthshine Girl to launching her acting career. It also threatens to be the very thing that causes her to unravel when a group of Jane Does file a class action lawsuit accusing the company of putting harmful ingredients into their products. When Nona begins investigating Bertie Tuttle, the company’s third-generation owner, she uncovers a complicated history involving her benefactor and a mysterious woman named Opal Doucet.
1910. Seventy-six years earlier, Opal Doucet, a rural doctor’s wife, is pregnant, on the run, and desperate to get to Paris and to the charismatic spiritualist who supposedly communed with her first love. To save money, Opal goes to work in the Earthshine Soap factory as an Earthshine Girl where she uses her knowledge of medicine, and the spiritualist’s teachings, to prescribe cures to the women who’ve come down with mystery ailments. As she and Bertie Tuttle secretly partner in a labor strike intended to improve the working conditions at the factory, Opal must decide the cost of her own freedom.
Gorgeously written and intricately constructed, Everything Lost Returns is a story of desire and friendship, guilt and redemption, and the power we have, in our own small way, to change the course of history.
6 pm reception/6:30 pm program
Free & open to the public.
Registration required.
Copies of Everything Lost Returns will be available for sale & signing courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati.
About Sarah Domet: Sarah Domet is the author of the novels The Guineveres and Everything Lost Returns, and the craft book 90 Days to Your Novel. She is a professor and the coordinator of the MFA program in creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Silent Book Club
Tuesday, February 24 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Clifton Branch, 3400 Brookline Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220.
You’re invited to the Clifton Branch Library’s first Silent Book Club! Spend an evening in quiet company with your book of choice. All readers and book formats are welcome! We’ll have 45 minutes of silent reading and then an optional discussion for the remaining time together. Attendees can come and go as they please throughout the evening. We hope to see you there!
Jeneane O’Riley discussing and signing A Secret in the Garden
Tuesday, February 24 at 7:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. Book = ticket.
Please join us for Jeneane O’Riley discussing and signing A Secret in the Garden. This event is book = ticket. Please purchase the book to attend the event. Books will be ready for pick up at the event. Readers can bring up to three backlist titles from home to be signed, signature only. Other books must be purchased from the store for her to sign. Jeneane will take photos with fans but only one photo per person/group. No video.
From USA Today bestselling author Jeneane O’Riley comes the first in a series of deliciously dark and whimsical standalone romances.
Some secrets were never meant to be unearthed.
Perched on a windswept cliff, Blackwood Manor looms like a dark monument to a mysterious family. Behind its grand iron gates, one part of the estate has been left to rot since the tragic death of Hester Blackwood: the once-glorious conservatory, now choked by vines and shattered glass. The rest of the family is gone—only her brooding son, Jasper, remains, the heir to a weapons empire.
Desperate to save her job and out of options, botanist Eliza Arnold makes a bold gamble—drive to the manor and beg the elusive millionaire for a donation. Jasper agrees...on one chilling condition: restore the conservatory. Alone. No help. No leaving.
But the manor is not empty.
As Eliza battles thorns and secrets, a magnetic tension builds between her and Jasper—dark, dangerous, and impossible to ignore. And something else stirs among the roots and ruins...whispers in the walls, confusing disturbances, and a presence watching her every move.
The deeper Eliza digs, the more she uncovers a garden of grief, longing…and desire. Because in Blackwood Manor, even buried things can bloom again.
Jeneane O’Riley is a USA Today and #1 bestselling author of whimsically dark and romantic fantasy books. Her love of storytelling began as a small child, dreaming up glorious fantasies to fall asleep to. As she has grown older, her love of storytelling remained, but the tales grew more dangerous and full of toe-curling tension.
She is a hobby mycologist and nature enthusiast who resides in Ohio, at least until she can locate a proper bridge to troll, or perhaps a large tree spacious enough to hold her smoke show of a husband, her Irish wolfhound, pet dove, and of course, her three children.
Hidden History of Black Cincinnati with Author Kareem Simpson
Wednesday, February 25 at 3:00 pm at the Kenton County Public Library, Covington Branch, Truist Meeting Room, 502 Scott Boulevard, Covington, Kentucky 41011. Registration required.
Join the Kenton County Public Library for a special Local Author Spotlight featuring historian and author Kareem Simpson on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 3:00 PM in the Truist Meeting Room at the Covington Branch.
Simpson will discuss his acclaimed book, Hidden History of Black Cincinnati, which explores the overlooked people, places, and stories that shaped Cincinnati’s Black community. Drawing on deep archival research and vivid storytelling, he brings to light generations of resilience, activism, and cultural impact that are often absent from traditional histories.
The presentation will include insight into the research process behind the book, highlights from Cincinnati’s past, and reflections on why preserving local Black history matters today. A Q&A session and book signing will follow. Copies of Hidden History of Black Cincinnati will be available for purchase.
Registration is required.
The D.E.A.R. Community
Wednesday, February 25 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Wyoming Branch, 500 Springfield Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45215.
Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) with a community that loves books and reading. Start your evening at the Wyoming Branch Library to browse and choose a book—or bring one you’re already enjoying. Then head across the street to Nourish at be. for complimentary tea and dedicated, unplugged reading time designed for rest and self-care.
As we wind down, you’re invited to join a relaxed, optional conversation where we can share what we’re reading—or a book that’s deeply impacted our lives—and swap recommendations for our next great read. Whether you read quietly the whole time, join the discussion, or simply enjoy the calm company of fellow book lovers, this evening is yours.
This event is geared towards independent readers that are looking for quiet time away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy reading quietly in community.
B.K. Borison in conversation with Chloe Liese discussing And Now, Back to You - SOLD OUT
Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.
Please join us for B.K. Borison in conversation with Chloe Liese discussing And Now, Back to You. This event is book = ticket. Please purchase the book below to attend the event. Author will be pre-signing books. Signed books will be available for pick up at the event. After the discussion, readers will have the chance to meet and get a photo with B.K. This event is SOLD OUT. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please email events@josephbeth.com and we will let you know if additional space becomes available. Thank you!
Two competing meteorologists are forced to find common ground in this opposites attract, When Harry Met Sally inspired romance, from New York Times bestselling author B.K. Borison.
Jackson Clark and Delilah Stewart have had their fair share of run-ins over the years, often ending in disaster. While Jackson thrives on routine and organization from the comfort of his radio booth, Delilah loves the spontaneity and adventure out in the field. When they’re partnered against their will to cover a historic snowstorm, they find themselves scrambling to figure out how to work together.
Eager to be taken seriously as a journalist, Delilah offers Jackson a deal: If he can help her ace this assignment, she’ll help him rediscover his long-lost fun side. With unexplored chemistry burning beneath their clashes, the unlikely partnership quickly tumbles into an easy and surprising friendship.
But when other feelings start to enter the equation, can Jackson and Delilah withstand the storm? Or does what happens in the mountains stay in the mountains?
B.K. Borison is the author of cozy contemporary romances featuring emotionally vulnerable characters and swoonworthy settings. When she’s not daydreaming about fictional characters doing fictional things, she’s at home with her family, more than likely buying books she doesn’t have room for. Lovelight Farms was her debut novel.
Chloe Liese writes romances reflecting her belief that everyone deserves a love story. Her stories pack a punch of heat, heart, and humor, and often feature characters who are neurodivergent, like herself. When not dreaming up her next book, Chloe spends her time wandering in nature, playing soccer, and most happily at home with her family and mischievous cats.
Friends of the Library Book Sale
Thursday, February 26 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Campbell County Public Library, Newport Branch, 901 East 6th Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.
The Friends of the Library host a used book sale in the Friends Room on the lower level of the Newport Branch.
The Friends of the Library hosts a book sale from 9 am-12 pm on the fourth Thursday of the month from January through October. The book sale is in the Friends Room on the lower level of the Newport Branch.
Come browse the great selection of books and take advantage of incredible prices!
Writing in Community
Thursday, February 26 at 5:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St #1100, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Seeking to start or build a consistent writing practice? Join us.
Each gathering begins with a brief prompt to stir creativity, followed by shared quiet time for individual projects. Whether you identify as a writer (any genre) or are simply dabbling, all are welcome.
Drop in and bring whatever writing tools fit your fancy, and turn solitary writing into creative companionship. No registration required.
Contact hillary@mercantilelibrary.com for questions.
The War Within a War: An Evening with Wil Haygood
Thursday, February 26 at 6:00 pm at The Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St #1100, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
In partnership with The Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Award-winning author and journalist Wil Haygood explores how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans—fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home—and a powerful lens through which to understand the racial and political divides that continue to shape American life.
“With this book, Wil Haygood has become the preeminent chronicler of the Black experience in America.” —Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Laureate for The Making of the Atomic Bomb
“In these masterful pages, Haygood reframes both the Vietnam War and the United States’ unfinished struggle for equality.”—Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours and Lost in Shangri-La
Drawing on the lives of soldiers and officers, doctors and nurses, journalists and activists, artists and politicians, Haygood illuminates a generation caught between two battles: one on the front lines in Vietnam and another for justice and dignity in America.
Among those at the heart of the story are Air Force pilot Fred Cherry, the first Black officer captured by the North Vietnamese and a hero to millions back home; Dr. Elbert Nelson, a doctor who came to Vietnam after watching TV footage of the Watts riots in Los Angeles and soon found himself amid rising Black soldier protests overseas; Wallace Terry, a groundbreaking Black reporter determined to expose the dynamics of race and war to the American public and Philippa Schuyler, a biracial concert pianist who traveled to Vietnam to rescue mixed-race orphans, many fathered by Black soldiers, and died trying to bring them to safety.
Surrounding their experiences are the cultural and political forces of the era, including Martin Luther King Jr., Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, and Lyndon Johnson, whose voices and actions shaped a decade of turbulence and transformation.
The War Within a War is both sweeping history and intimate revelation, capturing the tragedies and triumphs, the honor and hypocrisies, the courage and cowardice that shaped an era and whose repercussions resonate today.
6 pm reception/6:30 pm program
Free & open to the public.
Registration required.
Copies of The War Within a War will be available for sale & signing courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati.
About Wil Haygood: WIL HAYGOOD is the author of Tigerland, which was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize; Showdown, a finalist for an NAACP Image Award; In Black and White; and The Butler, which was made into a film directed by Lee Daniels. He has been a correspondent for The Washington Post and The Boston Globe, where he was a Pulitzer finalist. Haygood is a Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, and is currently Boadway Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Year of the Horse Passion, Energy, Transformation: Workshop and Open Mic Series
Thursday, February 26 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Krohn Conservatory (Bonsai Room), 1501 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
From first spark to radiant transformation, Awaken, Ignite, Illuminate honors the courage to become, evolve, and shine in every phase. 6–8 pm | Krohn Conservatory (Bonsai Room) 1501 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Writing Workshop and Open Mic in the Bonsai room is free for those over 21 years old with $10 general admission to Krohn botanical gardens. Remaining 2 Series: Feb 26-Year of the Horse Passion, Energy, Transformation March 26 Moonlight Menagerie
LJ Claren in conversation with Mia Sheridan discussing and signing The Silversmith
Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 pm at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. Book = ticket.
Please join us for LJ Claren discussing and signing The Silversmith. This event is book = ticket. Please purchase the book below to attend the event. Books will be available for pick up at the event.
Not able to make the event? Purchase the book and receive special swag and the book mailed to you.
This slow-burn romantasy debut filled with yearning, tension, and forbidden love will feature an exclusive bonus chapter and foil on the cover.
Shadows are closing in…and the fate of the world rests in the hands of a grieving girl who never asked to be chosen.
Still reeling from the mysterious deaths of her father and brother, Ary Gold survives only by sheer will in the icy wilds of the North. But when strangers arrive with stories of long-lost magic, Ary is thrust into a fate far larger than her sorrow.
The realm of Nyrida is under threat. An ancient shadow wielder has risen, determined to plunge the world into corrupted darkness. And only Ary can stop him. They say she has royal blood. That magic runs in her veins. That she is already promised in marriage—to a powerful commander whose army is her only hope of winning the coming war. But her fiercest challenge will not be on the battlefield…
Assigned to shape her into a warrior is a man cloaked in violence and secrets. Cold, arrogant, and maddeningly unreadable, he isn’t her betrothed—but he may be her undoing... Ary is powerless to resist the impossible attraction building between them. Will she follow her destiny? Or risk everything for a love as wild and dangerous as the power that’s awakening inside her?
LJ Claren is a lifelong dreamer, avid reader, and a grateful wife and mother of two. She writes powerful stories about heroines that get up when knocked down and the flawed, beautiful souls that love them. The Silversmith, in the Selvaren series, marks her adult romantasy debut. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading or wrangling her husband, cats, and children.
Zine Making with Cincinnati Art Museum
Saturday, February 28 from 10:00 to 11:30 am at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, College Hill Branch, 1400 West North Bend Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224. Registration required.
Join Cincinnati Art Museum for their inTEENsify series where students will get hands-on experience with various art techniques.
Registration is required.
Community Book Swap at Valley Vineyards
Saturday, February 28 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at Valley Vineyards, 2276 US-22, Morrow, OH 45152.
Bring a few books to swap with others. Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, History, whatever your genre, bring it and browse the table to find others while getting to know fellow bibliophiles and supporting a local business.
Valley Vineyards is a leading winery located at a stone’s throw from the Little Miami River. Our winery is home to exquisite wines that are crafted to perfection for a delightful dining experience. You should visit us to enjoy our wines crafted onsite with over 45 years of experience.
Tales to Tails with Poppy
Saturday, February 28 from 2:00 to 2:45 pm at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Walnut Hills Branch, 2533 Kemper Lane, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206.
Drop-in to read a story to our furry friend, Poppy, a certified therapy dog. Poppy is a super sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who loves listening to stories that you can either bring with you or pick off the shelf to share with her.
For youth of all reading levels.
This project is a labor of love, one that I truly believe is worthwhile. All of our writing grows when we share in community together and learn from each other. I hope you find this monthly newsletter useful to your practice and your creative writing journey. I hope you attend events that bring joy, inspiration, and commitment to your writing!
If you know of any upcoming events that I should feature, send them my way! Whether you’re hosting it or just know about it, I’d love to include any ways to further support and connect our community. You can email me and/or comment on this post any time!
And if you find this newsletter helpful, feel free to share it with a friend! We all grow when we support each other.
With love and cheer for your writing!
—Rachel