Poetry gives us permission to rebel, to misbehave, to speak truth to power and to imagine futures better than the ones we've been presented with. With wit, craft, and profound courage, these panelists harness language to celebrate small victories and teach us the joys of artistic disobedience.

With poets Alison Hawthorne Deming and Farid Matuk. Moderated by Logan Phillips.

In dark times, people look to poetry for hope and resilience. By mining their memories and transmuting the past into poetry, each of these panelists reveal how making sense of our personal and collective experiences can be a radical act of optimism, compassion, and generosity.

With poets Rosa Alcalá and Leo Romero. Moderated by Wanda Alarcon.

Created and hosted by poet and former Greenlight bookseller Angel Nafis, Greenlight’s Poetry Salon welcomes locally and nationally celebrated poets for a powerfully moving and joyful evening of wine, poetry, and performance. 

February's featured poets include Pushcart Prize recipient Perry Janes, author of Find Me When You’re Ready; Bronx-born activist, performer, and educator Roya Marsh, author of savings time; local writer Monica McClure, author of The Gone Thing; and editor-in-chief of Muzzle magazine and co-host of VS Podcast Brittany Rogers, author of Good Dress; Join us for readings and what is always a celebratory event!

with Margaret B. Ray (Good Grief, the Ground) and Diana Cao (Relational)

Poets Perry Janes, Anna Morrison and Hannah Bonner will read from and discuss their work, in partnership with both the Iowa City Book Festival and Refocus Film Festival.

in conversation with Charif Shanahan (Trace Evidence, Into Each Room We Enter Without Knowing)

in conversation with Linda Foster Nemec (The Blue Divide, The Lake Michigan Mermaid)

with reading by Tommye Blount (Fantasia for the Man in Blue) and conversation with Peter Ho Davies (A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself, The Fortunes)

with Nandi Comer (American Family: Syndrome & Tapping Out) and Imani Mixon

with Cynthia Dewi Oka (Fire Is Not a Country, A Tinderbox in Three Acts) & Safia Elhillo (Girls That Never Die, Bright Red Fruit)