Poetry reading and open mic with Rebecca A. Spears and John Milkereit at BookWoman, followed by an open mic.
Rebecca A. Spears and John Milkereit are the featured poets at BookWoman on Thursday, September 10, for the bookstore's 2nd Thursday Poetry Reading and Open Mic. The reading celebrates new books from both poets, and after they've read, the floor opens up for an open mic. Cindy Huyser and Julia Ross are co-hosting the night.
Spears comes to the reading with Turning the Lights Back On, published April 3, 2026. It's her latest after Brook the Divide in 2020 and The Bright Obvious in 2009. Her work has appeared in Narrative, Catamaran, Verse Daily, and The Nature of Our Times, and she's picked up a Pushcart Prize nomination, a Best of the Net nomination, and recognition from the Texas Institute of Letters in 2021. She also took home the Equinox prose award in 2025. She earned her MFA at Bennington College and teaches writing at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Milkereit is a Houston-based mechanical engineer who completed an MFA at the Rainier Writing Workshop. His poems have appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, San Pedro River Review, and The Comstock Review. He's judged poetry contests and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize twice. Kelsay Books published his fifth collection, The Beginning of Undoing, which is the new book he'll be celebrating here.
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BookWoman is an Austin specialty bookstore and a multi-year Best of Austin winner. The reading runs from 7:15 PM to 9:00 PM at 5501 N. Lamar #A-105, and it's happening both in-store and simultaneously on Zoom, so you can join from the shop or from home. Admission is free.
