July & August 2025
Literary Events in the Washington, D.C. Area
Please note: while most events are free, many require an RSVP and some do charge. See links for details. If you have an event to add, or a correction, email us at Washington.Unbound@gmail.com.
Ongoing
Busboys & Poets hosts open mics weekly at various locations. For information, visit their website: https://www.busboysandpoets.com/poetry
7/30
The Writer’s Center
5:30 – 7 pm
4508 Walsh St, Bethesda MD 20815
Women writer mixer! Join us for an informal gathering at The Writer’s Center! It’ll be a chance to talk shop, network, and hang out with other writers. Please bring a drink or an appetizer that serves six, and bring a friend, too.
https://writer.org/event/women-writers-mixer-jul2025/
Wonderland Books
7 – 8 pm
7920B Norfolk Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814
Will Leitch will discuss his new novel, Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride, a twisty, funny, and ultimately uplifting novel that follows a father in a race against time to provide for his child.
https://www.wonderlandbooks.com/events/47119
Politics and Prose at The Wharf and the Atlantic
7 pm
610 Water St SW, Washington DC, DC 20024
Jeremy Gordon (See Friendship) in conversation with Megan Garber. A poignant and funny novel about grief, loneliness, memory, and the unique existential questions inherent to the digital age, See Friendship introduces a new voice in fiction--a writer known for his pitch-perfect cultural criticism, with a depth of literary talent.
https://politics-prose.com/jeremy-gordon
7/31
The Writer’s Center
7 – 8 pm
Online
FREE virtual chat about the craft of memoir with Sienna Liu to discuss her new book-length essay, Specimen. Sienna is in conversation with Zach Powers, novelist and Artistic Director at The Writer’s Center.
https://writer.org/event/sienna-liu/
8/1
Loyalty Bookstore
8 – 9 pm
Online
Gabriella Buba and Mia Tsai will virtually launch both of their books, Daughters of Flood and Fury and The Memory Hunters! Join them for this fantastic conversation, celebration, and appreciation of AAPI authors!
https://loyaltybookstores.com/bubaandtsai
8/2
Mahogany Books
11am – 4 pm
121 American Way, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
Mahogany Books is hosting their second annual Black Books Matter Fest at their National Harbor Location. Meet more than 50+ authors and a host of area vendors! A major focus will include independent authors who have written a variety of works that will appeal to a host of different interests.
Politics and Prose at Connecticut Ave
1pm
5015 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008
Since 2011 P&P has been proud to offer authors self-publishing services. From memoirs to novels to family histories to children’s books, their Opus Self-Publishing Program has produced a wide range of genres in an equally diverse range of formats, all meeting the same publishing industry standards as any books on P&P’s shelves. Join them for a reading by some of their Opus authors.
https://politics-prose.com/event/2025-08-02/opus-author-event-2025-conn-ave
8/3
Elaine’s Literary Salon
6 pm
208 Queen St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
Washington Unbound contributor and former diplomat Tom Navratil will discuss his debut novel, Dog's Breakfast, an embassy comedy in which an ambitious underling goes rogue to advance his career.
https://www.elaines-restaurant.com/events/
8/5
Kramers
7 – 8 pm
1517 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
For the 75th anniversary of 1984, Laura Beers explores George Orwell’s still-radical ideas and why they are critical today. In her book Orwell’s Ghosts, historian Laura Beers considers Orwell’s full body of work—his six novels, three nonfiction works, and brilliant essays on politics, language, and the class system—to examine what “Orwellian” truly means and reveal the misconstrued thinker in all his complexity.
https://www.kramers.com/events/3091420250805
East City Bookshop
7:30 – 8:30 pm
Online
East City Bookshop welcomes back Regina Black for a virtual event to discuss her latest novel, August Lane, in conversation with Nikki Payne. From the author of The Art of Scandal comes a small town romance about the visibility of Black women’s voices in country music, for readers of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev.
8/7
Politics and Prose at Union Market
7 pm
1324 4th Street NE Washington, DC 20002
Sign up on-site to share your work aloud at P&P’s newest open mic series curated by award-winning poet María Fernanda (she/hers). She believes that Poetry, like us, exists in many forms—spoken word, blues, performance/theatre, hip-hop, and more.
https://politics-prose.com/the-hour-8725
8/8
Politics and Prose at Connecticut Ave
7 pm
5015 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20008
Sleeping in the Courtyard, hosted by Holly Mason Badra and Heba F. El-Shazli, shines a light on works by a group of diverse contemporary Kurdish women and nonbinary writers living in Kurdistan and in diaspora. This collection showcases variety in representation, point of view, identity, intersectional experience, geographical context, and style.
https://politics-prose.com/holly-mason-badra
Busboys and Poets 14th & V
9 – 11 pm
2021 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Poetry slam hosted by Charity Blackwell. This is an opportunity for poetry lovers to enjoy the competitive art of late-night performance poetry! Enjoy two rounds of high intensity poetry, with the audience choosing a winner.
https://www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-evt-44814598/
8/9
The Writer’s Center
2 pm-5 pm
4508 Walsh St, Bethesda MD 20815
Sligo Creek Publishing Launch Reading. Washington Unbound’s Gregory Luce reads along with poets Naomi Thiers, Dina Greenberg, and Samuel Prestridge. Open mic follows. Refreshments will be provided.
https://www.sligocreekpublishing.com/blog/dp0lrnrbvji4brwy98vjkho8fl5vig
Sankofa Video, Books & Cafe
6:30 – 8:30 pm
2714 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001
Join Sankofa for a special book event celebrating Pursuing Alexander Pushkin, A Memoir. The event will include a reading, discussion, and time for audience questions.
https://www.sankofa.com/events/book-event-pursuing-alexander-pushkin-a-memoir
8/12
Politics and Prose at Union Market
7 pm
1324 4th Street NE Washington, DC 20002
Introduction to Afrofuturism, hosted by writer DuEwa M. Frazier, delivers a fresh and contemporary introduction to Afrofuturism, discussing key themes, understandings, and interdisciplinary topics across multiple genres in Black literature, film, and music.
https://politics-prose.com/duewa-frazier
8/13
Kramers
7 – 8 pm
1517 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
Victor Suthammanont, joined by moderator Vera Kurian, will discuss his book Hollow Spaces. Hollow Spaces is a moving portrait of a flawed man’s shocking fall from grace and a gripping exploration of race in corporate America, filial loyalty, ambition, and the fallout of a sensational trial for those caught in its wake.
https://www.kramers.com/events/2837120250813
8/14
Politics and Prose at Connecticut Ave
7 pm
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
Authors Jonathan Lackman and Zachary J. Pinson, in conversation with Alex Spiegel, will discuss their novel The Woman With Fifty Faces, a book chronicling the elusive life of actress and socialite Maria Lani.
https://politics-prose.com/jonathan-lackman
The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh St. Bethesda MD 20815
Short Fiction Intensive Reading
8-9 pm
The Writer’s Center welcomes five participants from R. O. Kwon’s Short Fiction Intensive for a virtual reading of work produced in the workshop. Featured readers: DMV author Margaret Chmiel, Blue Guldal, Alice Kim Hawari, Brent King, and Sergio Muro.
https://writer.org/event/short-fiction-intensive-reading/
8/19
Politics and Prose at Union Market
7 pm
1324 4th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
Scott McGill and Susannan Wright are discussing their release of a new edition of Virgil's Aeneid – tale of thrilling adventure, extreme adversity, doomed romance, fateful battles, and profound loss. This exciting new edition of the Aeneid, the first collaborative translation of the poem in English, is rendered in unrhymed iambic pentameter, the English meter that corresponds best, in its history and cultural standing, to Virgil's dactylic hexameter.
https://politics-prose.com/mcgill-wright
Stanchion Magazine
8 – 9 pm
Online
This Zoom book launch will feature readings by: Exodus Brownlow Avitus B. Carle Todd Dillard Anna Vangala Jones Tara Stillions Whitehead, as well as Hannah Grieco reading from First Kicking, Then Not.
8/21
Politics and Prose at Connecticut Ave
7 pm
5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
Mark Doten will discuss his first collection of satirical stories that dissect the pathological narratives that shape our culture and country.
https://politics-prose.com/mark-doten
8/23
The Potter’s House
11 am – 12:30 pm
1658 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC, 20009
Join writer and teaching artist Kristen Zory King at The Potter's House for Write On! a dedicated time and space each month to sit in the company of other writers and write.
https://pottershousedc.org/events-calendar/2025/8/23/write-on
8/26
Kramers
7 – 8 pm
1517 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
Defense technology expert George M. Dougherty, moderated by General Cantwell, will discuss his book Beast in the Machine. Through his book, Author George M. Dougherty provides much-needed answers from a unique perspective as a senior military leader of US Air Force science and technology and a strategic business consultant to companies facing disruptive change in their industries.
https://www.kramers.com/events/2837320250826
8/28
Politics and Prose at Union Market
7 pm
1324 4th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
Antonio Michael Downing will talk about his book Black Cherokee, a coming-of-age story about a Black girl fighting for recognition in a South Carolina Cherokee community that refuses to accept her ancestry as legitimate.
https://politics-prose.com/antonio-michael-downing