Haverhill's River Bards are a group of local poets with a passion for shining a light on poetry, prose, spoken word, and other literary arts! Twice a year the Bards present a once-a-month poetry series in collaboration with Creative Haverhill. This poetry series features readings by fantastic published poets, followed by open mic readings. These events are family-friendly and open to the public. The poetry series is now being offered at Creative Haverhill’s new downtown Haverhill location – 43 Washington Street!
At 7:00 PM, our featured poet will kick off the night with a reading, followed by open mic time until everyone has had a chance to read. For those interested in sharing during the open mic portion of the evening, there will be an open mic sign-up sheet so make sure to sign up if you’d like to read and then wait until your name is called. The event will wrap up no later than 8:30 PM. We look forward to seeing you there!
Fall 2025 Poetry Open Mic Series
Wednesday, September 10th
Our featured poet for our September poetry night is Elizabeth S. Wolf. Wolf has published 5 books of poetry. Her chapbook Did You Know? was a 2018 Rattle Prize winner. Rattle Summer 2022 featured her project with Prisoner Express. In 2023 Elizabeth taped readings at the White House, Supreme Court, and US Capitol as part of The Scheherazade Project. Her video poem April 1999 was screened at the Poetry in Motion Festival 2024. Selected works are included in the Lunar Codex archive on the moon.
Wednesday, October 15th
Our featured poet for our October poetry night is Robert Whelan. Whelan is the Poet Laureate of Rockport, MA, with work published in journals and anthologies and translated into several languages. A passionate spoken-word poet, he performs at open mics locally, nationally, and internationally. He organizes the Rockport Poetry Festival and hosts monthly open mics in Rockport and Gloucester. His honors include a silver medal at the 2022 Naoussa International Poetry Festival and a poem included in NASA’s 2025 Lunar Codex Project. He holds an MS in Counseling Psychology and an MFA in Creative Writing.
Wednesday, November 19th
Our featured poet for our November poetry night is Ellie O’Leary. O’Leary is a New England writer who grew up in Freedom, Maine, and went on to become the Poet Laureate Emerita of Amesbury, Massachusetts. She is a member of the Amesbury Cultural Council, and she co-chairs the Poet Laureate Support Committee. Her books are Breathe Here (Poetry, 2020) and Up Home Again (Memoir, 2023), published by North Country Press.