Fill your end of summer needs by checking out these literary events! If you’re looking for something to do in August, here are some upcoming literary events* that may pique your interest!
- August 1, 2025 First Friday Book Talk & Reading with Charlie Peck
Zoom, 12:00 pm
Charlie Peck grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and received his MFA from Purdue University. His poetry has appeared previously in Cincinnati Review, Ninth Letter, Massachusetts Review, and Best New Poets 2019, among others. His first collection, World’s Largest Ball of Paint, is the winner of the 2022 St. Lawrence Book Award from Black Lawrence Press. - August 1, 2025 Native Omaha Days Poetry Groove
Let It Fly Sports Bar, 1080 Capitol Ave.
Omaha, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
An open mic experience featuring Dani Cleveland and Friends taking it back to the poetry/open mic night days of the early aughts. Dust off those notebooks and share what you’ve been working on or share what’s on your heart in the moment. There is a cash prize for best spoken word piece. - August 2, 2025 Jewel Rodgers and Matt Mason at Joslyn’s Art-Tastic Saturday
Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Douglas St.
Omaha, 12:30 – 1:00 pm & 1:30 – 2:00 pm
Nebraska State Poet Jewel Rodgers and former Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason lead events at the Joslyn Art Museum as part of the Joslyn’s Art-Tastic Saturday, which runs from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. Matt Mason leads a writing workshop at 12:30 pm in the Founders Room and both poets perform poems at 1:30 pm. - August 3, 2025 60th Annual Neihardt Day
John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, 306 W Elm St.
Bancroft, 12:00 – 3:00 pm
Join the 60th Annual Neihardt Day celebration! Free and open to the public! Bring your lawn chairs and/or blankets; picnic tables will be available. - August 5, 2025 Janice N. Harrington Poetry Reading & Discussion
Zoom, 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Harrington writes descriptive, lyrical, and experimental poems that speak to the Black American Imagination in all its multiplicity, advocating for a future that celebrates pleasure and self-fulfillment within Black communities. - August 7, 2025 Acoustic Performance and Book Signing with Brad Colerick & Scott Feldmann: “Zintka!: Lost Bird of Wounded Knee – Zintkála Nuni”
Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Musician and author Brad Colerick will be visiting to sign books and perform an acoustic set of songs that he’s written! His new book Zintka! began as a song about a Lakota infant who survived the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee and the ensuing three-day blizzard. She was miraculously found alive — saved by the warmth of her mother’s dying body. The song was turned into an award-winning short film with his creative partner Scott Feldmann. - August 7, 2025 Nights at The Joslyn: Storytelling & Poetry Workshop with Matt Mason
Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Douglas St.
Omaha, 6:00 – 6:45 pm
The workshop begins with Matt Mason sharing his poetry, inspired by works in the European collection, followed by writing in the galleries and time to share. - August 7, 2025 Verse & Vibes
Indigo Cottage Crafts, 2063 Creekside Dr.
Papillion, 6:30 pm
An open mic at an artsy space full of good vibes, and not just because of the coffee and liquor bar ;). Open to poets, authors, writers, musicians, anyone who has talent to share. Everyone is welcome. Free event. Jules Coral, MC. - August 8, 2025 Visiting Writers: Abby E. Murray in Conversation with Ava Winter
Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Join us as poet Ava Winter talks with Abby E. Murray about their second poetry collection Recovery Commands. Selected out of 300 entries as the 2024 winner of the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize, this book explores the intersection of military and civilian life. - August 8, 2025 Poetry Readings at The Lion: a Poetry Feature and Open Mic with Chad Christensen & JV Brummels
St Mark’s on the Campus, 1309 R St.
Lincoln, 5:30 – 8:00 pm
Guests may study, write, read, relax, sit, talk, and generally socialize with friends over coffee, tea, and other beverages from opening at 5:30 pm until 6:00 pm when Chad Christensen & JV Brummels will feature. If time remains, Open Mic will follow until closing. - August 9, 2025 Fractured Narratives: Memory & Forgetting
Larksong Writers Place, 1600 N Cotner Blvd.
Lincoln, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
The stories we share in poems are often incomplete, fractured pieces that follow an emotional logic. How do we decide where to start and where to end? What parts of the story do we tell and what do we omit? We will discuss how imagery “triggers” memory, and how those pieces combine to create narrative poems. In this workshop, we will read sample poems, discuss narrative techniques, and have time to generate our own first drafts. Instructed by Charlie Peck, $50 registration fee. - August 9, 2025 Omaha Poetry Slam
The Local Art Plug, 1722 St. Marys Ave, Suite 110,
Omaha, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
The Nebraska Writers Collective proudly presents the Omaha Poetry Slam, a monthly open mic and poetry slam, held on the second Saturday of every month. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. We will start at 7 p.m. with an open mic and then the competitive individual slam! Sign up at the event. (If you plan to compete in the slam, bring three poems.) - August 11, 2025 Resonance Beat Poetry Jam
Razor Wire Productions Art Gallery & Tattoo, 1808 Vinton St.
Omaha, 7:00 pm
Wanna try your hand at pairing your writing with music? Or maybe you’ve just never had the sublime experience of hearing the fusion? Either way, we would like to invite you! Named The Resonance for the beautiful ways these artforms play off one another. Sponsored by the Nebraska Poetry Society. - August 12, 2025 Writers’ Workshop with Sarah McKinstry-Brown
Kearney Public Library, 2020 1st Ave.
Kearney, 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Join us for this writing workshop led by Nebraska Poet, Sarah McKinstry-Brown. She will inspire you to experience, love, and write poetry. The workshop will start at noon and registration is required. The workshop fee is $15 and will include lunch. Please bring along something to write with and write on. - August 12, 2025 Poetry Reading with Sarah McKinstry-Brown
Kearney Public Library, 2020 1st Ave.
Kearney, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Enjoy an evening of poetry with Nebraska Poet Sarah McKinstry-Brown. She is the author of Cradling Monsoons and This Bright Darkness, and is the recipient of three Nebraska Book Awards, an Academy of American Poets Prize, as well as a Sewanee Writers’ Conference Tennessee Williams Scholarship in poetry and a Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Award. - August 21, 2025 The Poetry Pause
Carriage House at Joslyn Castle & Gardens, 3902 Davenport St.
Omaha, 5:00 – 8:00 pm
Hear two local poets, one seasoned and one just starting to make waves, read their work and chat about why they write. It’s a great place to sit down, cool off, and enjoy something a little different. The poetry is thoughtful, fun, and totally family-friendly, and you’ll even have the chance to ask the poets questions. Stop by and see what poetry sounds like when it’s shared out loud. This month’s poets are Trey Moody and Sarah Larsen. Trey, author of Thought That Nature, brings nationally recognized poetry to Omaha with pieces featured in The Atlantic and The Believer. Sarah is a graduate teaching assistant at UNO and a rising voice in Nebraska’s writing community. - August 21, 2025 Writers in Conversation – Third Thursday with Tyler Jacobs & Presley Shellhase
Larksong Writers Place, 1600 N Cotner Blvd.
Lincoln, 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Each month Writers in Conversation invites two writers at differing stages of their writing career to share their work and engage one another in conversation about the craft of creative writing. The conversation is then opened to the entire audience for a lively discussion of all things literary. This month features Tyler Jacobs and Presley Shellhase. - August 21, 2025 Book Launch Party: Dr. Addison Killeen’s “The Shift: A Leadership Fable of the Transition from Overwhelm to Focus”
Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, 5:30 – 7:00 pm
Come celebrate the release of Dr. Addison Killeen’s newest book, The Shift: A Leadership Fable of the Transition from Overwhelm to Focus—a transformational story for leaders in business and beyond. In a world full of distractions, burnout, and reactive decision-making, this book offers a refreshing blueprint for regaining control and building systems that restore clarity, focus, and joy in leadership. - August 21, 2025 Vocal Fry
Shirley Tyree Theater, 2401 N 24th St.
Omaha, 7:00 pm
Prepare to be moved, inspired, and electrified at the only spoken word event in Nebraska dedicated solely to the art of expression. This isn’t just another open mic night—it’s a celebration of storytelling and raw emotion, where voices from all walks of life take center stage. Nathan Lachner and State Poet Jewel Rodgers, MCs. - August 22, 2025 Visiting Author: Brandon Scranton “Secrets in the Shadows of House Nassau”
Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, 5:30 – 7:00 pm
Author Brandon Scranton will be visiting to celebrate his new book Secrets in the Shadows of House Nassau! He will be doing a reading and signing copies of his book. - August 23, 2025 Randomness in Art, Poetry, & Your Life with Brad Modlin
Zoom, 10:00 – 11:30 am
What if the out-of-place belonged? In this playful, generative workshop, we’ll explore poems and art that welcome the unexpected—and write our way into surprising connections that just might make perfect sense. - August 23, 2025 Book Launch Celebration: Jaye Viner “The Island of Dreams”
Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, 4:30 – 5:30 pm
Nebraska author Jaye Viner will be visiting to celebrate her new fantasy novel The Island of Dreams, an epic fantasy with death gods, disability, and utopia gone wrong, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Alix E Harrow, Peter Pan, George MacDonald, and Penny Dreadful. - August 24, 2025 3rd Annual “The Dog Days of Summer” Poetry Event
Parish Center behind St Cecilia’s Cathedral, 39th and Burt Sts.
Omaha, 2:00 4:00 pm
Bring poems, all poets welcome, listeners welcome. Suggested themes: pet therapy or favorite star systems (Sirus is the dog star rising before the sun). Open mic, Refreshments, Some music. - August 29, 2025 Book Launch Celebration: Jeff Hill “Dark Tendencies and Dirty Secrets “
Francie & Finch Bookshop, 130 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, 5:30 – 7:00 pm
From the author of Dead Socials comes a new debut short story collection from Jeff Hill titled Dark Tendencies and Dirty Secrets! Come celebrate with Jeff and get your signed copy.
Check out the NCB Calendar to stay up to date on upcoming literary events happening near you!
*The time, date, and location of these events are subject to change.
Some of this month’s events, workshops, or conferences may require registration or charge a fee.
Feel free to contact us if you have an event that you would like to be featured.