Lit Crawl Boston: Full Schedule

On Thursday, October 13th, on the eve of the Boston Book Festival, come celebrate the city’s literary past, present and future at the inaugural Lit Crawl Boston, a night of irreverent literary programming in Boston’s Back Bay. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., intrepid readers will choose from a variety of unique literary events including games, performances, provocations and other oddities, all in surprising venues ranging from cafes and art galleries to barbershops and shoe stores.

This moveable feast in one of the most walkable cities on the planet is FREE, and most of the events will offer free beer and wine.

The Boston Lit Crawl is held in three “Rounds” plus a closing reading at the Central Burying Ground (Boylston and Charles Street). Guests can choose to attend just one event during each Round - 630PM, 730PM, 830PM-- or “crawl” from event to event. The schedule is as follows:

6:30pm EDT

AGNI Presents "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?"

Agni is excited to join LitCrawl Boston to present “Whose Line Is it Anyway?,” a hilarious and highbrow night of literature, guessing games, and other foolish fun. Come hang out at the School of Fashion with Agni contributors and watch these authors guess the author of sentences culled from great works. Short readings by the authors will start the night. The event will start at 6:30 sharp.

Moderators

Daniel Evans Pritchard

Editor / Poet / Critic, The Critical Flame

Daniel is a poet, translator, and essayist. He is the founding editor of The Critical Flame (criticalflame.org), an online journal of literary nonfiction, criticism, and interviews. Daniel advises AGNI on digital strategy and serves on the board at Salamander Magazine. His work has... Read More →

Speakers

Nicole Terez Dutton

Nicole Terez Dutton's work has appeared in Callaloo, Ploughshares, 32 Poems, Indiana Review and Salt Hill Journal. Nicole earned an MFA from Brown University and has received fellowships from the Frost Place, the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and... Read More →

Carissa Halston

Fiction writer

Carissa Halston is an award-winning fiction writer and omnireader. She's a doctoral candidate studying Critical Race Feminism and surveillance studies. She's androgynous, Syrian, Mvskoke, and queer.

John Hodgen

John Hodgen is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Assumption College in Worcester. Hodgen won the AWP Donald Hall Prize in Poetry for "Grace" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005). His fourth book of poetry, "Heaven & Earth Holding Company," came out from University of Pittsburgh... Read More →

Laura Kolbe

Laura Kolbe's poems have appeared in The Awl, the Cincinnati Review, the Colorado Review, the Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Yale Review and elsewhere. Her fiction, essays and criticism have appeared in Bookforum, The Literary Review, Virginia Quarterly Review and elsewhere. Recently... Read More →

Marianne Leone

Marianne Leone is an actress, screenwriter and essayist. Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Post Road, Bark Magazine, Coastal Living and WBUR’s Cognoscenti blog. Her memoir, JESSE, A MOTHER’S STORY OF GRIEF, GRACE AND EVERYDAY BLISS, was published by Simon & Schuster... Read More →

Thursday October 13, 2016 6:30pm - 7:30pm EDT
School of Fashion Design 136 Newbury Street, Boston

Fiction Game Poetry Reading

6:30pm EDT

All-Star Poetry + Folk Performance

Don't miss award-winning memoirist/poet Nick Flynn (Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City) and Boston Poet Laureate Danielle Legros Georges as they read poems with folk duo The Shaker. The Shaker is Simi Stone (The New Pornographers) and Philip Marshall (Killcool). Their first collaboration was written spontaneously—the song “240 Red White & Blue”—a response to the killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge the day before. Since then they have written a dozen songs, and when they perform with the poet Nick Flynn, they are known collectively as Shaker Flynn.

Speakers

Nick Flynn

Nick Flynn is the author of three books of poetry—Some Ether, Blind Huber, and The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands. He is also the author of three memoirs, including The Reenactments, The Ticking is the Bomb, and Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, which has been translated... Read More →

Danielle Legros Georges

Danielle Legros Georges was born in Haiti and raised in the United States. She received a BA from Emerson College in Boston and an MA in English and creative writing from New York University. She is the author of two poetry collections—The Dear Remote Nearness of You(Barrow Street... Read More →

Artists

Shaker Flynn

The Shaker is Simi Stone (The New Pornographers) and Philip Marshall (Killcool). Their first collaboration was written spontaneously—the song “240 Red White & Blue”—a response to the killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge the day before. Since then they have written a dozen... Read More →

Thursday October 13, 2016 6:30pm - 7:30pm EDT
The Frye Company 284 Newbury Street, Boston

Performance Poetry

7:30pm EDT

MassLEAP/Louder than a Bomb Youth Poetry Slam All-Stars

For the past 5 years, MassLEAP has brought together teen poetry performers from across Boston and beyond for an annual poetry contest where "the points are not the point – the point is the poetry." These amazing young voices cross neighborhood, town and city lines, share their original stories, support one another and engage the audience's attention with their dynamic, timely verse. www.massleap.org.

Converse is offering 20 percent off during event hours! (Some restrictions may apply.)

Exhibitors

Alex Charalambides

Amanda Torres

writer & educator

Amanda Torres (AT) is a futurist writer, educator & cultural organizer. The director of the Poetry Foundation’s National Incubator for Community Engaged Poets, as well as the co-founder and former director of MassLEAP, a youth literary organization in Boston, they are a designer... Read More →

Thursday October 13, 2016 7:30pm - 8:30pm EDT
Converse 348 Newbury Street, Boston

Performance Poetry

8:30pm EDT

In the Absence of Sparrows: A Poetic Remembrance of Journalist James Foley

Poet Daniel Johnson pays tribute to American journalist James Foley, who was killed by ISIS in Syria in 2014. In a multi-media presentation, Johnson explores his nearly twenty-year friendship with Foley, while layering poetry over combat footage, still photos, and live music. Johnson’s wife, Ebele Okpokwasili-Johnson, joins him in paying tribute and provides vocal accompaniment.

Speakers

Daniel Johnson

Executive director, Mass Poetry

Daniel Johnson is the author of Shadow Act: an Elegy for Journalist James Foley, which is forthcoming from McSweeney's in August 2023. Shadow Act explores Johnson's nearly 20-year friendship with James Foley, who was killed by ISIS in Syria in 2014. Johnson is also the author of... Read More →

Thursday October 13, 2016 8:30pm - 9:30pm EDT
Martha Richardson Fine Art/Robert Klein Gallery/Quidley & Co. 38 Newbury Street, Boston

Poetry