Writers & Books

June 13 at Writers & Books! and her intergenerational workshop, “The Poet Speaks” comes through after having been held in countries all around the world and featured in its own documentary tv series. Learn how to tell your own story, and how Igbo oral storytelling is at the root of what is called “spoken word poetry” today.

We are thrilled to have Amanda here for a few days. She will be reading at the FLOWER CITY POETRY FESTIVAL this Thursday (6/11) alongside , a cello and voice duo of and Tyler Cassidy-Heacock, and an adaptation of poetry to song debuting in a performance by the

Join us! And remember: if there’s rain we will announce a move to the

Special thanks to for supporting our festival!

For JF—

Thinking of our founder, Joe Flaherty today on what would have been his 80th birthday, on the 45th anniversary of W&B, and the 25th anniversary of Rochester Reads.

Joe wasn’t only a charismatic leader, he was also a dreamer, a visionary. He was quick to laugh, ready for fun, and felt at home in a room full of readers, writers, and creatives.

His commitment to community building is still very much a part of the mission of Writers & Books.

When you’re outside in your garden today, when you pick up the book you’re reading from the nightstand, when you’re enjoying a good cup of coffee, give a little toast to Joe Flaherty today. 💕

We’re excited to share that Writers & Books has been awarded a $24,932 capital grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)!

These funds will allow us to replace aging flooring throughout our building, improving safety, accessibility, and cleanliness for the thousands of readers, writers, students, and community members who visit us each year.

“New York’s powerful arts and culture sector is a formidable asset,” Governor Hochul said. “Our continued investments in museums, theaters and art centers generate incredible returns — sparking innovation, boosting local economies, driving visitors and making us the global epicenter of arts and culture.”

We’re grateful to NYSCA and New York State for investing in arts organizations and the communities they serve.

This project forms part of a renewed commitment to uplift our historic building at 740 University Ave — our primary organizational asset and the home to all of our creative experiences and community gatherings. We aim to begin work in late August through mid-September. We will keep you all posted and look forward to having new flooring in by the fall!

We’re kicking off a proud summer at W&B with a visit to the ’s LILAC LIBRARY, NY State’s largest publicly available collection of LGBTQIA+ books. With over 10k items in their collection, you can find it all here, including every issue of The Empty Closet (1971-present) and two new titles we’re featuring this June:

- Emanuel Xavier’s seventh collection, STILL, WE ARE SACRED (2026)

- Emrys Donaldson’s debut book of stories, THE IRIDESCENTS (2026).

Meet Emanuel Xavier (and find copies of his books) at the Flower City Poetry Festival next Thursday (6/12) at Highland Park Bowl.

Meet Emrys Donaldson at SCARY PROUD: an LGBTQIA+ showcase at on 6/30 alongside other upstate NY 🏳️‍🌈 authors and and discussion moderated by

Pictured here is our Artistic Director Tyler Barton donating titles to Lilac Library’s Director, Gerry Syzmanski

Check out Lilac Library during their open hours (Wed 6-8, Fri 6-8, Sun 2-4) and find out about the many creative and literary programs they offer.

Rochester's own Sarah Freligh has seen her viral poem "Wondrous" reach audiences all around (and outside of) the world. In 2024, the Odysseus Space Craft landed on the moon carrying a time capsule containing many works of art, including Freligh's poem.

Read more about this wondrous mix of art and science in the Democrat and Chronicle https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2024/02/26/odysseus-moon-lander-carries-poem-from-rochester-ny-writer-sarah-freligh/72711833007/

If you were to place a poem in a time capsule to be stored in space, what would you choose? Tell us in the comments, and don't miss Sarah Freligh's performance on the opening night of the Flower City Poetry Festival!

Let us know you're coming:
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Today, Writers & Books spent the morning at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School No. 9 in Rochester, where we’re working with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in the school’s Literary Society. Together, we’ve been exploring the wisdom and wonder of Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury and the life lessons these stories impart.

Today’s session focused on character creation, as students began imagining and designing original characters for the stories they’ll be developing in the coming weeks.

We always leave inspired by the imagination of the students, the dedication of the teachers and faculty, and the thread of joy that runs through everything this school does.

Bravo to the playwrights, actors, and directors who made 2 Pages/2 Voices a night to remember!

The evening featured the performance of selected original plays from playwrights from the 6-county Greater Rochester area. The rules of the annual contest were simple: write an original play two pages in length with two characters/voices and include the word “soil” in honor of the 2025 Rochester Reads selection by Camille Dungy.

The plays explored themes of aging, loss, friendship, human (or alien) existence, crossing borders, memory, love, artificial communication, and gardening, among others.

We received a record-breaking number of submissions this year (nearly 80) and selected 10 plays that were performed for a packed house. We thank and acknowledge everyone who shared their creativity with us. Keep on writing, and we hope to see you again for this special event next year!