Lee will help give awards and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the California Arts Council in Sacramento, CA. Details forthcoming.

Lee will give an afternoon youth poetry workshop and an evening reading at the Pacific Grove Library. Details forthcoming.

Lee will read and be in conversation with West Hollywood Poet Laureate Jen Cheng for the WeHo Reads series. Zoom. Link forthcoming.

Lee will read and perform with acclaimed saxophonist Benjamin Boone for the KFCF Tower Live Series.
VISTA Theater
Fresno, CA
6:00 pm

Lee will read along with Solano County poets laureate past and present for Center Stage at the Vacaville Museum. Open mic will follow the laureates. $12 non-members, $10 members. There will be a limit of 75 sold for courtyard comfortability. Tickets here.

Thursday, April 9.
6:00 - 8:30 pm
Vacaville Museum
213 Buck Ave.
Vacaville, CA

Lee will read at In This Time: A Gathering of Poets Laureate from the West, featuring state poets laureate from Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Washington. Sponsored by the Nevada Arts Council.

Brewery Arts Center
Carson City, Nevada

Lee will give a poetry workshop for kids and teens at the Zimmerman Boys and Girls Club.
540 N Augusta St, Fresno, CA 93701
3:00 - 4:00 pm

Twenty Years of PoemoftheWeek.com

Founded in 2006 by Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum, PoemoftheWeek.com was one of the first online anthologies dedicated to sharing and promoting the best in contemporary poetry. Now, after twenty years, POW is coming to print. Twenty Years of PoemoftheWeek.com will be the first major collection to showcase the evolving voice of twenty-first-century American poetry. Join us for a special celebration of POW’s twenty-year legacy with a reading by a diverse and dynamic lineup of award-winning and emerging poets.

Speaker(s):

Presenter: Monica Prince Moderator: Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum Presenter: Brian Turner Presenter: Lee Herrick Presenter: Lauren Camp

Poetry Reading, March 6, 2026 - 9:00 - 10:15 am

Location: Room 325, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center

Session Code: F124

Sixteen Rivers Press presents A Courage of Poets, a community reading to remember those killed by ICE. This event will feature 300+ poets and friends reading 2-3 lines each in succession, with Lee concluding with a final poem.
February 6, 2026
10:00 am - Noon
West Side of State Capitol
10th & L
Sacramento, CA

Lee will read alongside community members, from MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Betty Rodriguez Library
3040 N. Cedar Ave., Fresno (free)

Lee will read at a holiday-themed reading at the Benicia Public Library, with a variety of treats and live music. Lee will read and have a Q & A for the first hour, followed by an open mic open to all.

Benicia Public Library
Doña Benicia Room
150 E. L Street
Benicia, CA
3:30 - 5:30 pm

Lee will read alongside eight artists and poets for an art and poetry exhibition in Santa Cruz, CA. Details forthcoming.

Lee will be reading in Ridgecrest, CA. Details forthcoming.

Lee will teach an online course for UCLA Extension, titled “I've Been Here and Never Been Here: Writing Poems About Place and Displacement.” Explore strategies for writing poems situated in a specific space, from a small room to an entire city. More information and registration here.

Lee will be introducing Fresno City College students at LitHop. This event is from Noon - 12:45 pm at Lotus Room (620 E. Olive Ave., Fresno). Visit LitHop Fresno more more details.

Lee will give the keynote at the inuagural Riverside Book Festival.
Riverside Main Library. For a full list of speakers and more details, visit here.

Lee will be reading his original poem for the Fresno State Asian American Studies Major Celebration.

Lee will give a poetry writing workshop on the theme “origins.” Details forthcoming.

***NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the organizers have cancelled this event. We hope to reschedule later this year. ***

Meet Your OC Poetry Community!
Where: Arvida Book Co., Tustin, CA
When: September 13th, Noon to 4pm
FREE to attend
Panel Discussions
Performances featuring: Open Mic Hosts, Slam Poetry Team and OC's own Poets Laureate.
Keynote speaker: California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick.

Come learn what is going on for poets in Orange County, CA with event host Satnam Narang.

Featuring Susan Kiyo Ito, Shannon Gibney, and Lee.
REGISTER for the event HERE.
Grab a snack and favorite beverage, turn on your computer, and sit back to enjoy a beautiful hour of BIPOC adoptee voices, community, and Palestinian solidarity. Join us for the kickoff event for our monthly fundraiser reading series to help three families survive the genocide in Gaza. There will be seven readings! 

• Date: Thursday, July 31st 

• Time: 6–7pm PST

• Cost: Minimum $5

• Format: Virtual

The Zoom link will be sent a few days before the event; closed captions will be enabled. This will NOT be recorded or distributed. 

AUTHORS

Shannon Gibney (she/her) is a writer, educator, and activist. She is author of several books, including The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, which received a Michael L. Printz Honor and a Minnesota Book Award; See No Color and Dream Country, both winners of Minnesota Book Awards; Where We Come From (co-authored), winner of the 2023 Carter G. Woodson Award; Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight, and We Miss You, George Floyd (published in November). A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, Gibney teaches at Minneapolis College, where she was named Educator of the Year in 2023. She lives with her two children in Minneapolis.

Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Gunpowder Press, 2024) and three other books of poems, including Scar and Flower. His writing appears widely, in Here: Poems for the Planet, with an introduction by the Dalai Lama; Indivisible: Poems of Social Justice, with an introduction by Common; and Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy, among others. Born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted to the United States at ten months, he lives and teaches in Fresno, California.

Susan Kiyo Ito is the author of the memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere, published by the Ohio State University Press. It was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award, shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize for International Literature, and named a best book of 2023 by the Library Journal. She co-edited the literary anthology A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption. Her work has appeared in The Writer, Hyphen, Literary Mama, Catapult,The Bellevue Literary Review, Agni, Guernica, and elsewhere.  She has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, The Mesa Refuge, Hedgebrook and Blue Mountain Center. Her theatrical adaption of Untold, stories of reproductive stigma, was produced at Brava Theater. She teaches at the Mills College campus of Northeastern University.   

***You can buy their books at the BIPOC Adoptees online bookshop.***

MEET THE FAMILIES 

Tamara Abu Dayer and the Abu Dayer Family: The Abu Dayers are from Jabalia, a densely populated refugee camp in northern Gaza that has been destroyed. They have been displaced numerous times during the genocide, and thier large family has been separated to various locations. Over the past year, Tamara has become one of our closest dearest friends. To learn more about Tamara and life under occupation, here is a zine that Lisa MM Butler made to illustrate Tamara’s experience. Also, read Joon Ae’s essay, “A Debt of Gratitude” that connects Korean adoption to Palestine. Click HERE for her main fundraising page and consider setting up automatic monthly donations for sustained support. 

Alaa Abu Shammalh is also from Jabalia. Alaa is Tamara’s brother-in-law, married to her oldest sister, Mandi. Alaa was separated from his pregnant wife and young son when they were medically evacuated out of Gaza just before Israel closed the Rafah border well over a year ago. He has never met his youngest son, who was born in October. Alaa has been displaced over and over. He needs money to survive, and has depleted his fundraising account that was intended to be for reuniting with his family. Learn more about Alaa at his GoFundMe page. 

Nida is a 23-year-old student turned breadwinner for her family. Their home was bombed. Her father was taken hostage by the Israeli occupation and has yet to be released. Her mother and the rest of her family suffer from chronic health conditions. They do not have enough money for a tent. Her family relies on the support of others outside of Gaza to survive. Check out this zine that Lisa made to help amplify Nida’s story! Here is Nida’s main fundraiser page.

SAVE THESE DATES
We have a whole line up of great authors for you, including folks like: KE Garland, Nicole Chung, Melissa Guida-Richards, Cam Lee Small, Mila Konomos, Katelyn Durst Rivas, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, Cam McCafferty, Michael Hoyt, Alice Stephens, Kit Myers, and more! (All the following events take place online from 3-4pm PST/6-7 EST)

• Sun, August 31st

• Sun, September 28

• Sun, October 26

• Sun, November 30

• Sun, January 25

• Sun, February 22

HOSTS 

Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka and Lisa MM Butler 

Contact Joon Ae with questions at joonae@ajumamaworkshop.com

Lee will give a two-day online poetry workshop (two hours per day) on July 28 and July 30, 4:00 - 6:00 pm PST each day. Registration is capped at 20. Fees and information and the link to register are here.

Lee will read with Lory Bedikian to celebrate her new book.
Details and Zoom link TBA.

Lee will give a poetry workshop for the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project. Details TBA.

Lee will read with Adela Najarro, Aideed Medina, Angela Drew, Diosa X, Gillian Wegener, Juan Luzuriaga, and Stella Bertalis. Music by Anne Martin. Doors at 6:30 pm. Reading at 7:00 pm. Drinks and appetizers. Modesto, CA. Text 209-872-5139 for the address.

Lee will read a short set before the Central Valley Regional Poetry Slam, featuring teams from the Central Valley, Bay Area, West Hollywood, and Orange County.

Visalia
Details TBA.

Lee will read with fellow poets at the Malibu Annual Poetry Summit.

Malibu City Hall, Civic Theater
23825 Stuart Ranch Road
Malibu, CA 90265

Lee will read to babies and pre-schoolers and families for Story Time with Superstars at the Clovis Library.
1155 Fifth Street
Clovis, CA 93612
For details and more information: visit here.

Lee will give the keynote address at the 2nd annual San Joaquin Valley Bookfest.
Noon
Fresno City College - Old Auditorium
1101 E. University Ave.
Fresno, CA 93741