Past Events
2026
January 29
Opening of “Revelations: The Art of Leo Twiggs”
Gibbes Museum // Charleston, SC
February 19
“Poetry, The Influencer,” Kenan Lecture
Transylvania University, Haggin Auditorium // Lexington, KY
February 20
Affrilachian Poets 35th Anniversary Reading
Transylvania University // Lexington, KY
March 19
Celebration of Frank X. Walker
Poetry Foundation // Chicago, IL
March 22
Workshop at the Gibbes Museum
Charleston, SC
April 17
Ahkelo’s Walk
Artist Annette Lawrence and poet Nikky Finney
The Black Box Theatre in Swain Hall // Chapel Hill, NC
2025
January 10
Keynote Presentation for the Society of Christian Ethics Annual Meeting
Chicago, IL
February 15
At War With Ourselves with the Kronos Quartet
The Wallis in Beverly Hills
March 17
Jubilee & Wild: An Online Workshop with Ellen Bass
April 8
LEX 250 Literary Event
Lexington, KY
April 9
In Conversation Series
Lexington Public Library
Lexington, KY
June 20
Black Heritage Trail Event
Seneca, SC
September 24
Reading for Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY
October 17
Academy of American Poets Chancellor's Reading
New York, NY
November 13
Poetry on the Porch with Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Nikky Finney
A reading to launch and celebrate Calvocoressi’s The New Economy
Love House, 410 E. Franklin Street
5:30–7:00pm
Chapel Hill, NC
2024
February 8
Furious Flower Presents Nikky Finney, Anastacia-Reneé, and Malika Booker
AWP Conference
Kansas City, KS
February 22
Canon, Canyon, Cannon at theIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Boston, MA
March 7
Aliveness and The Black Poem
A Conversation with Tracy K. Smith & Kevin Quashie
Rutgers University, Newark
Newark, NJ
June 11 – June 17
Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference
Bread Loaf Campus of Middlebury College
Ripton, VT
September 18 - 20
Furious Flower Poetry Conference
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA
2023
September 22
Black Women's Health Imperative (BWHI)
40th Homecoming
Atlanta, GA
September 28
Schomburg Center & National Book Foundation Presents: Poetics of the Archive
Nikky Finney & Robin Coste Lewis in Conversation with Jacqueline Woodson
New York, NY
November 11
Griot & Grey Owl Conference
Durham, NC
December 1
Presentation for Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina
University of Michigan Museum of Art
2022
February 20
The Penn Center
St. Helena, Island, SC
February 21
*What Poetry Saves
University of Minnesota
Virtual Event
February 28
Lewis & Clark College
Portland, OR
March 10
Concordia College Celebrates the National Book Awards
Concordia College
Moorhead, MN
March 24 & 25
Big Ears Festival
Knoxville, TN
March 30
*16th National Black Writers Conference
Opening Event, Center for Black Literature
Virtual Event
April 16
At War With Ourselves
with Kronos Quartet
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
April 23
Reading & Receipt of the Thomas Robinson Prize for Southern Literature
Mercer University
Macon, GA
May 7 & 8
At War With Ourselves
with Kronos Quartet
San Francisco Jazz Center
San Francisco, CA
August 6
Lindy Hopping and Poetry, Craft Class with Nikky Finney
Kweli Journal, Virtual Event
October 20 - 24
Dodge Poetry Festival
Morristown, NJ
2021
January 15
Pacific University MFA Program
Virtual Event
January 27
Induction into the Kentucky Great Writers Hall of Fame
Carnegie Center
Virtual Event
March 5
University of Minnesota
Virtual Event
March 20
CityLit Festival Reimagined
CityLit Project in partnership with Enoch Pratt Free Library
Virtual Event
March 25
Clemson Literary Festival Headliner
Virtual Event
March 30
Reading for Spelman College
Virtual Event
April 8
Reading for North Carolina State University
Virtual Event
May 1
Poetry and the Power of Women of Color Knowledge Production
Panel for Meridians 20th Anniversary Celebration
Virtual Event
May 14
Reading with Arisa White
Academy of American Poets
Virtual Event
June 22
Minnesota Northwoods Conference Keynote Speaker
Virtual Event
October 6
An Evening with Nikky Finney
Windgate Museum of Art, Hendrix College
WMA’s fall exhibition, Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South
Virtual Event
October 14
Chancellor Conversations: Poetry & Social Change
Join Academy of American Poets Chancellors Natalie Diaz, Nikky Finney, Joy Harjo, Tracy K. Smith, The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Executive Director Kyle Dacuyan, and award-winning author Eve L. Ewing for a virtual conversation on the unique role that poetry plays in civic dialogue and social change.
Virtual Event
October 18
Hotbeds: Insurgent Design for Collaborative Transformation
University of Minnesota / Voice, Art, & Community Series
Virtual Event
November 7
Performance with the Kronos Quartet
At War With Ourselves — 400 Years of You
November 19 - 20
Performance with Kronos Quartet
At War With Ourselves - 400 Years of You with Inversion Ensemble
World Premiere in Austin, TX
2020
February 11 & 12
Aiken-Taylor Award Events
Sewanee, TN
February 19
She Persisted: Women of Letters and the American South
The Gibbes Museum of Art
Charleston, SC
February 25
2020 Frank B. Hanes Writer-in-Residence Reading
Chapel Hill, NC
More information
July 18
Kweli International Literary Festival:
Nikky Finney on Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry with Crystal Wilkinson
August 31
Aims of Education Address
Virginia Tech University
Virtual Event
September 13
Soul Talk at the Denton Black Film Festival
Virtual Event
September 15
Reading with Nandi Comer
Northwestern University Press
Virtual Event
September 17
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Virtual Event
October 7
Gaines Center for Humanities Reading
University of Kentucky
Virtual Event
October 8
Indiana University Reading
Virtual Event
October 9
Southern Festival of Books
Virtual Event
October 14
Fall Literary Festival Online
University of South Carolina
Virtual Event
October 20
Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth
Virtual Event
October 22 - November 1
Dodge Poetry Festival
Morristown, NJ
October 29
Chicago State University
Virtual Event
November 15 - 20
Miami Book Fair
Virtual Events
November 16
Lewis & Clark College
Virtual Event