Yetzirah Community Calendar
Events marked with an * are those created or co-sponsored by Yetzirah.
Join 2025 Events
November 23
In Person: Boston Yetzirah Salon | featuring poet Donna Spruijt-Metz in Marblehead | 2:00–4:00 pm
Please RSVP at this Google Form to receive the address: https://tinyurl.com/
More details in this document.
November 23
In Person: Chicago Yetzirah Regional Chapter Meeting | 10:30 AM, Evanston |
Attendees will share poems-in-progress and write together using a prompt.
The meeting will take place in Evanston, either at a private home or a public venue, depending on the number of participants. RSVPs are requested by November 10 to help with planning. To RSVP please email: dinaelenbogen@gmail.com
December 4
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “The Psyche is a Labyrinth: Exploring Identity in Yiddish Poetry ” with Danny Kraft | 7:00-9:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/december-4-the-psyche-is-a-labyrinth-exploring-identity-through-yiddish-poetry-workshop
December 21
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “Sacred Objects: Finding the Magic Inside” with Hadara Bar Nadav | 11:00-1:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/event/sacred-objects-finding-the-magic-inside-with-hadara-bar-nadav/
Join 2026 Events
January 11
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Reading Series | Luisa Muradyan, Lily Brown, Philip Schultz | 5:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/1-11-muradyan-brown-schultz/
January 25 to April 26
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “What Does Love Have To Do With It: A Midrash Workshop” with Alicia Ostriker | 12:00-3:00 pm | Four Sundays | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/event/what-does-love-have-to-do-with-it-a-midrash-workshop-with-alicia-ostriker/2026-01-25/
February 8
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Reading Series | Ori Fienberg, Robyn Schiff, Martha Rhodes | 5:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/2-8-feinberg-schiff-rhodes/
February 8
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “Spiritualizing the Ordinary” with Yehoshua November | 12:00-3:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/event/spiritualizing-the-ordinary-with-yehoshua-november/
March 5–6, 2026
*In-Person: Join Yetzirah at AWP 2026!
– Stop by our booth at Table T970 to say hello.
– Jewish Writers Caucus (sponsored by Yetzirah) will meet on Thursday, March 5, 3:20–4:35 p.m. ET, Location: Room 307, Level 300, Baltimore Convention Center.
– Yetzirah Kabbalat Shabbat & Reading will take place on Friday, March 6, 6:00-7:30p.m. ET, Location TBD.
March 15
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Reading Series | Rachel Abramowitz, Marcela Sulak, Charles Bernstein | 5:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/3-15-abramowitz-sulak-bernstein/
March 22
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “Imagining Jewish History into Poetry” with Yerra Sugarman | 12:00-3:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/event/imagining-jewish-history-into-poetry-with-yerra-sugarman/
April 19
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | ” ‘no tongue breaks’: Poetry of the Fragment” with Dan Rosenberg | 12:00-2:30 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/event/no-tongue-breaks-poetry-of-the-fragment-with-dan-rosenberg/
Previous Events
2025 Events
November 16
In Person: L.A. Yetzirah Regional Chapter Meeting | Yetzirah founder and executive director Jessica Jacobs will read with Los Angeles-area poets Elline Lipkin and Brian Sonia-Wallace in Culver City, CA | 3:00–5:00 pm
If you’re interested in attending, please contact chapter leader, Donna Spruijt-Metz: dmetz@usc.edu
November 9
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Reading Series | Daniela Naomi Molnar, Joanna Fuhrman, Sabrina Orah Mark | 5:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/11-9-molnar-fuhrman-orah-mark/
November 9
In Person: Philadelphia Yetzirah Regional Chapter | Poetry Reading Salon Welcomes Poet Jason Schneiderman | 2:00 pm
Space is limited; for more information, please get in touch with Amy Small-McKinney: momat927@gmail.com
November 5-19
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “Writing Shekhinah” with Joy Ladin | 1:00-2:00 pm | Three Wednesdays, November 5-19 | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/ladinshekhinahworkshop/
October 19
*Virtual: Yetzirah 2025-2026 Workshop Series | “In the beginnings: Writing in Conversation with Sacred Texts” with Jessica Jacobs | 12:00-3:00 pm | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/beginningsjacobsworkshop/
October 8
*In Person: Poetry of Peculiar Joys: Elegy, Memory, and Epiphany | 6:30 PM | Luria Academy of Brooklyn (664 Bergen Street)
This gathering will bring together six contemporary Jewish poets from diverse backgrounds and experiences to share work on the transformative power of joy – from how elegy can lead to epiphanies, to re-envisioning and reframing our lives through various ways of letting go. Don’t miss this meaningful conversation with Jared Beloff, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Jared Harél, Lynn Melnick, Jason Schneiderman, and Yerra Sugarman.
This event is presented as part of Sukkot in The Neighborhood–a festival of Jewish arts, culture, and spirituality taking place in an art installation Sukkah in Brooklyn. Learn more here: https://www.theneighborhoodbk.org/events
October 5
*Virtual : Yetzirah 2025-2026 Reading Series: Ayelet Amittay, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, & David Lehman | 5:00 PM | Zoom
Please follow this link to register: https://yetzirahpoets.org/yprograms/10-5-25amittaycontrerasschwartzlehman/
September 21
In-Person: SF Bay Area Yetzirah Regional Chapter | Poetry Reading Celebrating Three Jewish Poets, featuring Laurel Benjamin, Jackie Berger, & Yiskah Rosenfeld
Event begins at 2 PM | 2727 California St Gallery in Berkeley
In-Person: Chicago Yetzirah Regional Chapter | Poetry Reading to Reflect, Renew and Replenish for Rosh Hashanah, featuring Aviya Kushner, Jamie Wendt, Owen Lewis, Dina Elenbogen, & Hila Ratzabi
Doors open 1 PM, Generative writing workshop 1:15–2 PM, Poetry reading 2–3 PM, followed by book sale, signing and refreshments To register, please follow this link: www.chiloopsyn.org | For questions, please email: Laura Hode Zacks, laurahzacks@gmail.com
September 7
In-Person: Book Launch Party and an Evening of Poetry, at Mount Sinai Jewish Center’s Social Hall. Featuring Baruch November, Tikva Hecht, and Shamar Hill. This event begins at 8 PM and is brought to you by Ben Yehuda Press. Light refreshments will be served.
Admission is free, please sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/5bzxe3cu
August 31
In-Person: Boston Yetzirah Regional Chapter Jewish Poetry Salon featuring Lloyd Schwartz and Elisabeth Weiss, 10:30 AM. To register, please follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/
August 17
In-Person: Philadelphia Yetzirah Regional Chapter, First Retreat, 10:00 AM. For one day, we will join together as Jewish poets to learn and share through classes, workshops, and conversation. Attendance is limited, but if interested, please contact us: momat927@gmail.com
July 20
In-Person: Boston Yetzirah Regional Chapter General Meeting, 10:30 AM. For more information, please email: josettepoet@gmail.com
June 24-27
*In-Person & Online: 2025 Yetzirah Jewish Poetry Conference (registration links coming soon)
- Off-campus Dayenu Cohort (registration open now)
April 6
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) Kendra DeColo, Ava Winter, Jared Harel
In-Person: Chicago-Area Yetzirah Regional Chapter Jewish Poetry Salon featuring Dina Elenbogen, Jamie Wendt, Hila Ratzabi, and an open mic! 2pm CDT, Secret World Books, Highland Park, IL
March 26-29
*In-Person: Join Yetzirah at AWP 25!
– Stop by our booth at T175 to say hello, and for author signings (detailed schedule TBA).
– The Jewish Writers Caucus (sponsored by Yetzirah) will meet on Friday, Mar 28, 10:35 AM – 11:50 AM PDT, with Lauren Grodstein, Jessica Jacobs, Josh Rolnick, and Margot Singer, Location: Room 407, Level Two, Los Angeles Convention Center
– Yetzirah’s off-site “Contemporary Jewish Poets: Kabbalat Shabbat and Reading,” will take place March 28,from 6-7:30, at Der Nister.
February 16
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: (12:00-1:30 pm ET) Shirley Kaufmann: Roots in the Air: New and Selected Poems
February 12
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: (1:00-2:30 pm ET) “Songs of the Grass: Exploring Jewish Eco-Poetry” with Hila Ratzabi, first of six sessions
February 11
In-Person: Yetzirah Chapter Reading, Ithaca, New York: (6:00 pm ET) Poetry Reading with Dan Rosenberg, Suzanne Brody, and David Lehman, Tompkins County Public Library (Borgwarner West)
February 9
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) Josh Gottlieb-Miller, Diane Mehta, Hadara Bar-Nadav
January 26
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: (2:00-4:00 pm ET)“Poetry Inspired by Classic Jewish Texts” with Eve Grubin
January 19
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: (12:00-1:30 pm ET) Jason Schneiderman: Self-Portrait of Icarus as a Country on Fire
January 12
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) Elizabeth Powell, Carol Moldaw, Chanda Feldman
2024 Events
December 11
In-Person: Philadelphia Yetzirah Salon featuring guest Yehoshua November (6:00 PM), for details and to RSVP email momat927@gmail.com
December 5
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: (6:00-7:30 pm ET) “Poetry of the Cosmic All” with Mónica Gomery, first of three sessions
December 4
IN-PERSON: Jewish Poetry Book Club, Eastside Jewish Commons, Portland, OR. 12:30-3:00 pm, reading Irena Klepfisz, Her Birth and Later Years, New and
Collected Poems 1971-2021. Email bjftighe@hotmail.com with questions.
November 17
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: (12:00-1:30 pm ET) Peter Cole: Draw Me After
November 10
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET)Michael Dumanis, Lisa Olstein, Carlie Hoffman
November 3
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: (2:00-4:30 pm ET) “To See What is Heard: Concretizing the Spiritual and the Abstract” with Yehoshua November
October 13
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) Sharon Dolin, Lynn Melnick, Ira Sadoff
October 27
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: (12:00-1:30 pm ET) I Am of the Tribe of Judah: Poems from Jewish Latin America
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) Elana Bell, Enid Shomer, & Daniel Khalastchi
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: (2 pm-4:30 pm ET) “Season of Our Turning” with Rick Chess
September 22
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: (12:30-3:00 pm ET) “White Fire, the Art and Play of Midrash: the Journey and Meanings of Exodus” with Alicia Ostriker, first of four sessions
Fogelman Tighe at bjftighe@hotmail.com with questions or for more information.
May 14
Online (6PM PT/9PM ET): Coastside Poetry (Northern California) presents Yetzirah member Joel Thomas Katz reading from his new collection Aqueduct (October 2023). Viewable via “https://www.youtube.com/@CoastsidePoetry”. For further information, contact “dianeleemoomey@coastsidepoetry.org”.
April 14
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) April 14 (Liberation/Freedom) Matthew Lippman, Rachel Mennies, Nomi Stone
IN-PERSON, Rensselaer County, NY: Jewish Poetry in the 518 Reading (3:30 PM ET). More details and RSVP here.
April 7
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: (12 pm ET): Linda Zisquit, Havoc: New & Selected Poems
March 21
March 7
ONLINE: (7:30-9 pm ET) Vermont Jewish Poets Gathering (if you’re a Jewish poet in VT, please register to attend here), hosted by Judith Chalmer, with guest Jessica Jacobs, Ohavi Zedek, Burlington, VT
March 10
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (5 pm ET) March 10 (Wildness) Jake Marmer, Lisa Richter, Leslie Ullman
February 8-10
- Come visit Yetzirah in the Bookfair at T945, next to our friends at Ayin Press!
- With author signings by: Tom Haviv, Jane Muschenetz, Yehoshua November, Aviya Kushner, Yerra Sugarman, Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, Bonnie Jill Emanuel, Mark Elber, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Jen Karetnick, Anne Myles, Dan Alter, Jessica Jacobs, Hila Ratzabi, Sean Singer, & Carlie Hoffman.
- Thursday, Feb. 8, 9-10:15 am CST, “The Epigenetics of Joy: Writing Judaism Beyond Trauma” with Chanda Feldman, Jessica Jacobs, Erika Meitner, Yehoshua November, & Sean Singer, Room 2208, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level
- Friday, Feb. 9, 6-7:30 pm CST, Yetzirah Kabbalat Shabbat & offsite event, with readers Hadara Bar-Nadav, Tom Haviv, Jessica Jacobs, Lynn Melnick, Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Donna Spruijt-Metz, & Yerra Sugarman. With hosts Dan Alter & Jessica Jacobs, and the service led by Rabbi Mark Elber, Unity Temple on the Plaza, Temple Space, 707 W 47th St, Kansas City, MO 64112
2023 Events
December 14
ONLINE: From Darkness to Light: Poetry in Celebration of Hanukkah hosted by Jared Beloff
December 12
IN-PERSON & ONLINE: PORTLAND, ME: Yetzirah Poets of Maine—A Chanukah Reading with poets Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Meghan Sterling, Anna Wrobel and hosts Ilana Gilg and Jim Donnelly (a zoom link will be sent to all who register at this link). Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine 1342 Congress Street /Portland, Maine 04102
December 6, 13, 20
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: “Writing God” with Joy Ladin
December 3
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: Victoria Redel, Paradise
November 13
ONLINE: Jewish Book Council’s 2023 Jewish Writers’ Conference: The Epigenetics of Joy: Writing Judaism Beyond Trauma with Chanda Feldman, Mónica Gomery, Erika Meitner, and Yetzirah founder Jessica Jacobs
November 12
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: November 12 (Shadow/Light) Maya Bernstein, Jacqueline Osherow, Yehoshua November
October 11,18, 25
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Workshop: “Telling the Soul’s Stories: Spiritual Anecdote and Autobiography” with Joy Ladin
October 15
IN PERSON, RIVER FOREST ILLINOIS: Words of Light: A Jewish Poetry Panel with poets Dina Elenbogen, Hila Ratzabi, and Jamie Wendt. West Suburban Temple Har Zion, 1040 North Harlem Avenue, River Forest, IL 60305
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Book Club: Bert Meyers: On the Life and Work of an American Master, eds. Adele Elise Williams & Dana Levin
October 22
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: October 8 (Poet-Translators) Boris Dralyuk, Daniel Kraft, Mira Rosenthal
September 10
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: September 10 (Self-Reflection) Hilda Raz, Grace Schulman, Alan Shapiro
September 7
ONLINE & IN-PERSON, Santa Fe, NM: Jewish Poetry Salon with Lauren Camp, Elizabeth Jacobson, Maia H. Katz, Michelle Laflamme-Childs, Hilda Raz, and Miriam Sagan. Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 202 Galisteo St., Santa Fe, NM 87501
June 20-25
*ASHEVILLE, NC, with READINGS IN-PERSON & ONLINE: Yetzirah’s 2023 Summer Conference, with faculty Rodger Kamenetz, Ilya Kaminsky, Jaqueline Osherow, and keynote Alicia Ostriker.
May 25
IN-PERSON, NEWTON, MA: A Jewish Poetry Salon in Celebration of Shavuot with Gail Mazur, Lloyd Schwartz, and Ron Slate, hosted and co-sponsored Temple Reyim, Hebrew College, JARTS, Jewish Women’s Archive, Kesher Newton, Keshet, Mayyim Hayyim, Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, RUACH, and Zamir Chorale of Boston. Newton’s New Jewish Collaborative Campus, Newton, MA
April 26
IN-PERSON, PHILADELPHIA, PA: 12:30-2 PM, A reading and discussion with Philly poets Maya Pindyck, Harriet Levin Millan, Amy Small-McKinney, and Leah Falk, hosted by Drexel University’s Certificate Program in Writing and Publishing and Drexel Hillel, admission free and open to all, Roberta Rosen Sheller Chapel, Pearlman Center, Hillel Drexel, Philadelphia, PA
April 9
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (Liberation/Freedom) Janlori Goldman, Dana Levin, Gail Newman, Yerra Sugarman
March 19
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (A Translation Event, co-sponsored by the Yiddish Book Center) Featuring Jennifer Kronovet & Aviya Kushner, with Merle Bachman & Maia Evrona
March 8-11: AWP Conference, Seattle, WA
*Wednesday-Saturday, March 8-11: Yetzirah will share table T1211 with the The Laurel Review. Stop by and say hello!
Thursday, March 9: AWP Panel, “Poetic Experiments: Incorporating Play into Writing and Teaching,” with Yetzirah’s Vice President Jehanne Dubrow, and Kimberly Grey, Felicia Zamora, Phillip B. Williams, and Julie Carr.
*ONLINE & IN-PERSON: Thursday, March 9: “Contemporary Jewish Poets,” AWP Offsite Reading, co-sponsored by Ayin Press, with Dan Alter, Lauren Camp, Chanda Feldman, Erika Meitner, Alicia Ostriker, Eden Pearlstein, and Alicia Jo Rabins. Co-Hosted by Tom Haviv and Jessica Jacobs. Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Seattle, WA
*Friday, March 10: AWP Panel, “Not For Myself Alone: Creating and Sustaining Jewish Literary Communities,” with Jessica Jacobs (Yetzirah), Becca Kantor (Jewish Book Council), Madeline (Mindl) Cohen (Yiddish Book Center), Tom Haviv (Ayin Press), and Alicia Ostriker (Lillith Magazine).
Friday, March 10: 5:30-5:45 pm PT. Sabbath in Seattle, hosted by Alicia Jo Rabins and Jessica Jacobs. If you’re at AWP, join us for challah, grape juice, and a candle lighting in the Sheraton Grand Seattle.
Saturday, March 11: Book signing with Yetzirah’s Secretary Yerra Sugarman, along with James Allen Hall and Glenis Redmond. Four Way Books
February 12, 2023
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (Wildness) Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, Rodger Kamenetz, Jason Schneiderman
February 9, 2023
*NEW YORK, NY: Yetzirah’s first in-person poetry salon, hosted by Yetzirah’s Secretary Yerra Sugarman, with featured readers Alicia Ostriker, Sean Singer, and Lynn Melnick
February 8, 2023
*NEW YORK, NY & ONLINE: A reading & conversation with Joy Ladin, introduced by Jessica Jacobs, at the Jewish Theological Seminary, co-sponsored by JTS & Yetzirah
January 29, 2023
*ONLINE: Optional informational session about applying for a fellowship to Yetzirah’s summer conference
January 15, 2023
*ONLINE: Yetzirah Reading Series: (Trees/Nature) Rebecca Aronson, Rachel Hadas, Maya Pindyck
ASHEVILLE, NC: Yetzirah Reading Series Watch Party, Congregation Beth Israel
January 12, 2023
ONLINE: JCC Buffalo—Jewish Poetry Reading Series. Reading with Joy Ladin, Jared Harel, and Jessica Jacobs (who read & talked about Yetzirah).
2022 Events
