Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

IAWA-BOSTON Presents:

Jane Alessandrini Ward and Michael Franco

and open mic

Saturday, April 18, 2026, at I Am Books

124 Salem Street, Boston, MA

6-8 PM EST; Open Mic begins at 6; admission is free

Jane Alessandrini Ward is the author of Should Have Told You Sooner, In the Aftermath, The Mosaic Artist, and Hunger. She has been a contributing writer for an online regional and seasonal food magazine and a blogger and occasional host of cooking videos for an internet recipe resource. Jane lives in Massachusetts. To learn more, visit janeaward.com.

Michael Franco is a poet, playwright, and artist. His publications include: The Marvels of David Leering [Pressed Wafer 2017] A Book of Measure Volume One: The Journals of the Man who Keeps Bees [Talisman House 2017] How To Live [Zoland, Cambridge. MA 1998]. He was the founder of the Word of Mouth Readings Series in Cambridge, MA,  and was a board member for the Pioneer Valley Poetry Festival. He is currently a Visiting Writer for the University of Coimbra, Portugal and curator of the Xit The Bear reading series in Somerville, MA.

To join IAWA or renew membership: IAWA

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

@ John D. Calandra Italian American Institute  

25 W. 43^rd St., 17^th Floor, NYC

Joel Allegretti & Cyn Grace Sylvie

2^nd Thursday, April 9, 2026

LIVE 6-8PM EST; Open Mic begins at 6PM; admission is free

Joel Allegretti is the author of, most recently, Let’s All Be Happy Today (The Opiate Books, 2025), a collection of short stories. In addition, he has published six books and chapbooks of poetry and Our Dolphin (Thrice Publishing, 2016), a novella. He is the editor of Rabbit Ears: TV Poems (NYQ Books, 2015). Rain Taxi said, “With its diversity of content and poetic form, Rabbit Ears feels more rich and eclectic than any other poetry anthology on the market.” Allegretti has published his poems in The New York Quarterly, Barrow Street, Gargoyle, Smartish Pace, PANK, and many other journals. His short stories have appeared in The MacGuffin, The Adroit Journal, and Pennsylvania Literary Journal, among others.

Cyn Grace Sylvie (she/they) is a queer neurodivergent writer, multimedia artist, and spiritual educator, and the founder of TAROT CHURCH, a tarot education movement that aims to de-stigmatize tarot across faith systems. Their first chapbook, What Sharp Teeth was published by Crying Heart Press in October of 2025. Sylvie is a recipient of Epiphany Magazine’s 2017 Short Nonfiction Prize, and was long-listed as a Notable Nonfiction Selection in The Best American Essays of 2018 (Mariner Books). Their writing has appeared in Dewdrop, Open Secrets Magazine, and The Rumpus. They are first generation Italian-American diaspora, and reside in Jersey City, NJ.

To renew or join IAWA, https://iawa.net/join/

April 18: BOSTON Michael Franco & Jane Ward

May 14: NEW YORK Maria Giura & Denise Laneve

May 16: BOSTON Jennifer Militello & George Guida

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

IAWA-BOSTON Presents:

Casey Lynn Roland and J.D. Scrimgeour

and open mic

Saturday, March 21, 2026, at I Am Books

124 Salem Street, Boston, MA

6-7:30 PM EST; Open Mic begins at 6; admission is free

Casey Lynn Roland is a writer, artist, and maker based on the North Shore of Massachusetts. If the House is Inclined to Collapse is her first full length poetry publication, conceptualized during her time at the University of New Hampshire, where she earned an MFA in Poetry in 2020. Her work has previously appeared in Plainsongs, Red Ogre Review, Rougarou Journal, and West Trade Review among others.

J.D. Scrimgeour is the inaugural poet laureate of Salem, Massachusetts, and the author of six books of poetry, including Small, Rectangular, Reflected World. Scrimgeour’s second book of nonfiction, Themes for English B: A Professor’s Education In & Out of Class won the AWP Award for Nonfiction. His most recent book is Poet in High Street Park: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem, which contains three decades of his writing about the city.

To join IAWA or renew: https://iawa.net/join/

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

@ John D. Calandra Italian American Institute   25 W. 43^rd St., 17^th Floor, NYC

Tim Gager & Tony Gloeggler

NOTE DATE & TIME CHANGE: Wednesday, March 11, 2026

LIVE 6-8PM EST; Open Mic begins at 6PM; admission is free

Timothy Gager is the author of 20 books of fiction and poetry, which includes his fourth novel, Shadows of the Seen, (Pierian Springs Press, 2025) and his most recent collection of poetry, Almost Bluing for X-Tra Whiteness (Big Table Publishing, 2024). He hosted the successful Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, MA from 2001 to 2018, and started a weekly virtual series in 2020. He has had more than 1,000 works of fiction and poetry published, 19 nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His work also has been nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award, The Best of the Web, The Best Small Fictions Anthology and has been read on National Public Radio.

A life-long resident of New York City, Tony Gloeggler has managed group homes for the mentally challenged in Brooklyn for more than 40 years. His latest collection is Here on Earth (NYQ Books, 2026). Gloeggler’s first chapbook, One On One (Pearl Editions) received the 1998 Pearl Poetry Prize. NYQ Books also published What Kind Of Man, which was named a finalist for the 2021 Paterson Poetry Prize.

To renew or join IAWA, https://iawa.net/join/

March 21: BOSTON –Casey Roland & J.D. Scrimgeour

March 25:BIG RED BOOKS, Nyack – Maria Giura

April 9: Joel Allegretti & TBA

April 18: BOSTON Michael Franco & Jane Ward

April 23: Casa Belvedere, Staten Island – Kathy Curto, Thomas Fucaloro, Maria Giura & Maria Lisella

May 14: Maria Giura & Denise Laneve

May 16: BOSTON – Jennifer Militello & George Guida

IAWA BOSTON: 3^rd Saturdays @ IAM Books

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

The Italian American Writers Association launches its Philadelphia chapter with an inaugural evening of literary work grounded in voice, memory, and red gravy. Founded in 1991, IAWA is a national nonprofit supporting Italian American writers across genres and generations. Founded and launched by its host, the new chapter creates a literary home shaped by Italianità as lineage and sensibility—poetry and storytelling passed hand to hand, heart to heart, generation to generation.

The evening will feature 2 invited readers, followed by a community reading segment, open to those who wish to share their work, with spaces filled as people arrive.

This opening reading takes place at Fergie’s Pub, in partnership with Moonstone Arts Center, and is hosted by writer Julianna Forlano, of the Italian American Herald and Olive on the Apple Tree on Substack—centering Italianità, ancestral voice, and the stories that both carry us forward and root us to home.

Wednesday March 4, 2026 – 7pm – LIVE

Live at Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street

Jo Piazza is an international bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and podcast creator known for12+ books, including The Sicilian Inheritance and We Are Not Like Them. She hosts the critically acclaimed podcast Under the Influence. Her work spans fiction and non-fiction, often exploring relationships, motherhood, and social commentary.

Christina Rosso-Schneider (she/they) is a queer, disabled writer based outside Philadelphia. She is the author of CREOLE CONJURE and SHE IS A BEAST. Her fiction and nonfiction—often exploring gender, sexuality, fairy tales, and the occult—has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. She is also the co-owner of A Novel Idea, an independent bookstore and event space on Passyunk named one of the best bookstores in the region by The Philadelphia Inquirer, and teaches in the Humanities department at Moore College of Art and Design.

To join IAWA or renew membership: Join or Renew.

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

IAWA-BOSTON Presents:

featuring

DOMENICA RUTA

and open mic

Saturday, February 21, 2026, at I Am Books

124 Salem Street, Boston, MA

6-7:30 PM EST; Open Mic begins at 6; admission is free

Domenica Ruta is the NYTimes bestselling author of the memoir With or Without You and the novel Last Day, a 2019 NYT Notable book of the year, and most recently the novel All the Mothers, all from Random House. She has published short fiction and essays in the Iowa Review, the Boston Review, the Indiana Review, Epoch, Ninth Letter, The Cut, People, and elsewhere, and has been anthologized a handful of times, most notably in Wanting and the forthcoming No Contact. She publishes personal essays with zero regularity and lots of love for free on her Substack. Follow her on Instagram at @domenicaruta .

Upcoming readings in Boston at I Am Books

March 21: Casey Roland & J.D. Scrimgeour

April 18: Michael Franco & Jane Ward

May 16: Jennifer Militello & George Guida

 To join IAWA or renew membership: https://iawa.net/join/

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

@ John D. Calandra Italian American Institute   25 W. 43^rd St., 17^th Floor, NYC

George Guida and Gerry La Femina

NOTE DATE & TIME CHANGE: FRIDAY, February 13, 2026

LIVE 3-5 PM EST; Open Mic begins at 3PM; admission is free

George Guida is the author of 13 books. Among them is the memoir, The Walking Amoeba (Bordighera Press, 2026); his sixth poetry collection, The Fulfillment Center (Foothills Publishing, 2026); the 2026 Bright Hill Press Chapbook Award-winning long poem Bloom and the Blitz, and a novel, The Uniform (Guernica Editions, 2024). He teaches at New York City College of Technology, curates the Finger Lakes Arts Series, and is concocting a cool pen name with which to deceive editors who know his schtick.

Gerry LaFemina is an accomplished poet, writer, and editor whose latest books are After the War for Independence (Poems, Steph F Austin University Press) and The Pursuit: A Meditation on Happiness (CNF, Madville). In 20025 he was named a Councilor of the Maryland State Arts Council by Governor Wes Moore. He teaches at Frostburg State University and in the Carlow University low residency MFA program. He also plays rhythm guitar and sings for Rotten Princess recording artists The Downstrokes.

To renew or join IAWA, https://iawa.net/join/

March 4-7: IAWA @ AWP, Baltimore

March 5: Off-site Reading @ Charm City Books

featuring  GRACE CAVALIERI

March 4: INAUGURAL PHILLY IAWA Reading  @ Fergie’s Pub

Boston IAWA takes place on 3^rd Saturdays @ IAM Books

Rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Our Books! And review each other!

IAWA-BOSTON Presents:

Mary Bonina and Joseph Bocchicchio

Saturday, January 17, 2026, at I Am Books

124 Salem Street, Boston, MA

6-8 PM EST; Open Mic begins at 6; admission is free

Mary Bonina’s My Way Home is her debut novel. Other books include My Father’s Eyes, memoir, three poetry collections –most recently Lunch in Chinatown. You can read her poem, “Drift” on a granite monolith, permanent public art outside Green St. on the Orange Line. A fellow awarded many residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, including their France retreat, she earned her M.F.A. from Warren Wilson’s Program for Writers.

Joseph Bocchicchio’s work has appeared in Cutthroat, Entropy, Panning for Poems, Jawbone, Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, Ovunque Siamo, Voices in Italian Americana, and three Edith Chase Symposium Chapbooks: Resurrection River Poems, Rewilding Ohio, Cuyahoga River Poems, and the anthology The Nature of Our Times. His creative non-fiction, “Passing Through,” was nominated for a Pushcart by The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

 To join IAWA or renew membership: https://iawa.net/join/

3 rules of IAWA: Read Each Other, Write or Be Written, Buy Each Other’s Books!

And our newest: Review Each Other.

IAWA-New York Presents

You and Your Top Hits of 2025

All Open Mic

Join IAWA NY for our 1^st 2026 reading!

Share your best piece of 2025 – published or pending publication or, read a new piece. Briefly tell us why you are proud of the work — this is a chance to connect, listen, share goals and plans for 2026. Post links to publications.

Readers will have 5 minutes each per our traditional time limit. We can’t wait to see you and hear your poetry and prose!

THURSDAY, January 8, 2026

6-8 PM EST on

ZOOM

 Registration on Zoom Required

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QsOsxkJAQ3m7Db_X4KwZ5w

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Upcoming NY IAWA Events in 2026

Jan. 8: New Year Virtual Open Mic

Feb. 12: George Guida & Gerry La Femina

March 12: Timothy Gager & Jennifer Militello

To join, renew or gift an IAWA membership, go to

https://iawa.net/join/

SIGN UP FOR

BOOKS & BISCOTTI HOLIDAY LIVE OPEN MIC

IAWA INVITES YOU to MIX, MINGLE & GIFT BOOKS

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2024, 6-8PM

The Italian American Writers Association IAWA, is hosting a “HOLIDAY READING & GIFT SWAP on THURSDAY,  DEC.  11, 6-8pm at “our home,” the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43^rd St., 17^th Floor NYC.

A One-Hour LIVELY OPEN MIC –  one poem or one page of prose  — followed by a GIFT SWAP of wrapped new or gently used books – so all  leave with a gift!

Guests are encouraged to bring a friend and a beverage … IAWA will serve tramezzini & biscotti.

 PLEASE RSVP: Those who would like to read in the Open Mic should e-mail: italianamericanwriters@gmail.com with the

Subject Line: Books & Biscotti, Dec. 11, 2024 to insure your slot.

About IAWA: The Italian American Writers Association was founded in 1991 to promote Italian-American literature by encouraging the writing, reading, publication, distribution, translation, and study of Italian-American writing.

The Books & Biscotti Festival Committee — Christina Bruni, Kathy Curto, Maria Lisella and Peter Marra –look forward to this Italian American pre-Natale festa.

To renew or join IAWA,  https://iawa.net/join/

 Upcoming NY IAWA Events in 2026

Jan. 8: New Year Virtual Open Mic

Feb. 12: George Guida & Gerry La Femina

March 12: Timothy Gager & Jennifer Militello