Oct 02, 2026, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

JustBook-ish, 1463 Dorchester Ave, Dorchester, MA 02122, USA

JustBe(Loved) is a poetry slam and open mic that occurs every 1st & 3rd Friday at JustBook-ish and is curated by Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah and Crystal Valentine.

Witness the transformation of the historic courtyard of Captain Harvey Coffin Mackay into a ship/stage where poetry, sound, visual art, ghosts and seagulls mingle and collaborate. The unfolding is co-created by CoCo Haze of Gallery RAG, K Prevallet of the Underverse, and Loren Doucette of Doucette Studio.

Special guests:

Amy Sara Carroll
Joel Iwaskiewicz
M.P. Carver
Matthew E. Henry
Jim Dunn

The project is funded by the Harbortown Cultural District and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

EVENT DETAILS:

Featured Readers: Hannah Larrabee, Elizabeth Sylvia, and Matthew E. Henry

Open mic to follow.

This reading will also help to raise funds for 617Peak (https://www.617peak.org/about), an org that runs writing, music, and literacy programs for Boston-area middle school and high school kids.

Poetry on the porch!

Join us at the A Little Lit section of the LitPorch at JP Porchfest on Saturday, August 22, from 1–3 PM, featuring 12 poets. A Little Lit is a space for page and stage poets to share their incredible work with you.

Ula Cafe | 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain

Come by, listen in, and celebrate poetry in the neighborhood. I will be hosting!

I’ll be reading at Lockwood Studios on July 26th.

Theme: Escape Routes - Healthy and other means of survival.

I have the joy of reading at the Gloucester Writers Center Reading with Hannah Larrabee!

This summer I will be returning to The Bookstore of Gloucester and reading with Whitney Rios-Ross

More info TBA

FareForward is sponsoring a reading at The Wheelock House on July 21, at 5pm. I’ll be reading with poet and editor Whitney Rio-Ross, which will be followed by a moderated discussion on poetry and prophecy.

Open and free to the public.

I’ll be reading again at Wellfleet Public Library.

Goin' Up Yonder: Religion in Black Poetics

  Quintin Collins, Matthew E. Henry, Sarah Kersey 

For many in the Black American community, religion played a large role in our upbringing. Whether we maintain our beliefs into adulthood, embrace a new faith, or abandon religion altogether, we may reckon with or otherwise allude to how that cultural context informed our lives through poetry. Four writers will read poems that include imagery, diction, and other aspects of religion. Then they will discuss among themselves and with the audience how these influences appear in and drive their work

I will be returning to Grolier to read with Jack Saebyok Jung and Joan Naviyuk Kane.

A poetry and music tribute to the late/great Charles Coe will take place at the Menino Art Center on Friday, June 12th from 7 to 9 PM.

Six poets will present Charles’ poems:

• Amy Alvarez

• Tonie Bee

• Linda Carney-Goodrich

• Matthew E. Henry

• Cecily Miller

• Aidan Parkinson

Ken Field and B. Mez will be play/improvise music.

I will be one of the night’s readers at Serendipity Bookshop in Taunton, Ma.

More info TBA…

I will be the featured reader at c Voices in Verse Poetry Cafe.

The Poetry Cafe begins with a craft workshop, followed by an open mic, then the feature reading.

It is my please to read, once again, at Tidepool Bookshop in Worcester, MA.

More info to come…

PUBLIC SCHOOL POETRY is an online journal co-edited by Julie Babcock, David Ward, Megan Levad, and two of your Skazat! hosts -- Scott Beal and Ellen Stone. Our sixth issue debuts this month and would love to have you join us for our online launch party! An incredible group of poets published in this issue will join us tonight -- Ellen Welcker, Matthew E. Henry, Jay Griffith, Claire Denson, Kristie Williams, Cal Freeman, and Stephen Leggett. You don't want to miss it!

To attend, indicate "going" on this Facebook event page. I will then send you the zoom link so that you can join us at 7pm this evening.

Faith & Migration: Author Talk w/ KÁNYIN Olorunnisola & Matthew E. Henry

KANYIN Olorunnisola, Yoruba writer and author of ARA’LUEBO: The Immigrant Monologues will be joining boston-born editor and author of Promises to Keep, Matthew E. Henry for a reading and conversation highlighting their most recent collections of poetry. Join us for an evening exploring the oetics of faith and migration.

I’ll be the Keynote speaker for the Educators Showcase in Brockton. A night highlighting poetry and education.

I’ll be presenting and reading at the Five Ponds Creative Writing Festival at Gordon College.

“What Can We Learn from the Prophetic Voice?”

It has been argued the prophets of the Hebrew Bible have more in common with spoken word and slam poets than Sunday morning preachers. Tasked with communicating the “word” and “vision” of the LORD, and recognizing the magnitude of the communal and cosmic stakes, their sensitivity to evil and hatred of public performative piety, infused their poetry with controversial imagery, often at great personal risk. What can modern writers with similar spiritual sensitivities learn from the rhetorical elements of the Prophetic critique—the images, metaphors, and sign-acts that they employed? What can we get away with? How far is too far?

I will be a featured reader at Everyone Has A Voice at the Brockton Public Library alongside one of my students.

I’ll be reading with Quintin Collins and Tatiana Johnson-Boria. Open mic to follow.

Guest lecturing for the amazing Tatiana Johnson-Boria’s Cultivating Your Poetry Collection, a three-month virtual intensive meant to help poets develop their collections through an artists collective called "The Starshine Arts Collective." More details here.

My virtual lecture will be on Generating Poems For a Manuscript. 30-mins lecture/craft talk and a 30-mins Q&A with students.

Date: 1/21/26

Time: 7-8pm EST/ 4-5PM PST

Place: Virtual

More info to follow

Reading and discussion of my poetry (theological and otherwise) at St Andrews Episcopal Church in Marblehead, MA).

Bearded Bards of Bluesky is returning and raising money for Trans Lifeline!

The November lineup:

• Todd Dillard

• Brian Spears

• Matthew E. Henry

• James McConachie

• David J Bauman

• Jonathan Everitt

Join us for an inspiring evening of spoken word and poetic expression at our Poetry Night, featuring five dynamic voices: Sam Aureli, Sara Jane Ferreira, Ariel Friedman, Matthew Henry, and Merryn Rutledge. Each poet brings a unique rhythm and perspective to the mic, offering a night of creativity, connection, and powerful storytelling. Whether you're a longtime poetry lover or just curious, come be part of the magic—words are waiting.

I’ll be reading at The Square Root in Roslindale with Josette Akresh-Gonzales.